Bitcoin Core v31.1rc1 is now available

This preliminary release can be downloaded from Bitcoin Core's official website, and the source code is accessible on GitHub under a signed tag at GitHub - bitcoin/bitcoin/tree/v31.1rc1. The accompanying preliminary release notes, which detail the updates and fixes included in this version, are crucial for testers and can be reviewed at GitHub release notes.

Community involvement is essential in this phase to ensure the stability and robustness of the upcoming official release. Users are encouraged to download, test, and report any issues through the project’s GitHub issues page, located at GitHub issues - bitcoin/bitcoin. Such engagement helps identify and resolve potential problems, ensuring a smooth transition to the official v31.1 release.

Personal testing experience has shown positive results with the v31.1rc1 on a system running Ubuntu 22.04 (jammy) with a kernel version of 6.8.0.124, powered by an Intel Core i5-7300U @ 2.60GHz processor and 8GB RAM. All functional test suites passed successfully, and specific tests like the musig2 empty pubkey rejection returned clean RPC errors as expected, indicating no immediate issues with this release candidate.