According to data from CoinDesk20, the current trading price of the leading cryptocurrency by market capitalization is US$38,300, up nearly US$4,000 or 11% in 24 hours. On Monday, due to a massive sell-off in the spot market, Bitcoin fell from $40,000 to $30,305, and the price rebound eliminated most of the losses observed earlier this week. Options market data shows that investors are betting on continued gains, and based on data provided by cryptocurrency derivatives research firm Skew, a 20% probability is allocated to make it before January 29 (monthly expiration) Break through $50,000.
Option probability is calculated using the Black-Scholes formula based on key indicators (such as call option price, strike price, underlying asset price, and the "risk-free" interest rate for investments in US Treasury bonds) and expiry time. An option is a derivative contract that gives the buyer the right, but is not obligated to purchase the underlying asset at a predetermined price on or before a specific date. Call options represent the right to buy, and put options represent the right to sell.
Originally set for December 1, 2020, Bitcoin Core version 0.21.0 is now available for download, which includes some significant changes to Bitcoin's main software implementation. Most notably, Bitcoin now supports Tor's latest address format, Taproot's code can now be tested, and Bitcoin Core can finally set fees manually.
With the soaring price of Bitcoin, these new features will not make headlines every day, but as cryptocurrencies see a new wave of investors, what they do with the privacy, tools, and complex transaction logic of the Bitcoin network Improvements are building a stronger foundation.
Taproot is closer to us
Since it was merged into Bitcoin Core in October, there have been some minor adjustments to the consensus rules for the highly anticipated Taproot upgrade, which allows the use of more complex smart contracts signed by Schnorr. Taproot can now also fully use Bitcoin's seal, which is a sandbox network where developers can test new software and upgrades before pushing them to Bitcoin's mainnet.
Cost makeover
Another change in about 3.5 years is that Bitcoin Core now allows its users to set manual fees, which are denominated in satoshis (the smallest unit of Bitcoin) instead of bitcoin. Previously, Bitcoin Core relied on transaction fee estimators, and these fees were set by specifying the Bitcoin amount (e.g. 0.00001 BTC) instead of satoshis (1000 sats).
privacy
In addition, the new version also supports the V3 address of the private browser Tor. Before this update, Tor V3 addresses could not be placed in the message data shared by Bitcoin nodes to connect to each other. Core now has a new method of transmitting these addresses so that nodes can establish peer-to-peer connections through them. This is a necessary addition because Tor V2 addresses will no longer work until next year.
This version also introduces a new block filtering system for "light customers" (the wallet does not retain the complete history of the Bitcoin transaction ledger, but queries data from the full node as needed). Now, instead of using the so-called "bloom filter" to query any blocks required by these wallets for transactions, this goal is achieved through a process called "compact client-side block filtering".
This new method provides greater privacy protection for light clients because nodes will create block filters for wallets in advance, and wallets will request block data on a case-by-case basis to retrieve the specific transaction data they need. The old process had wallets requesting specific block data from their peers.
Bitcoin gets a new sandbox
Bitcoin is also getting a new test network. The so-called Signet can now run and is next to Bitcoin's other test-only blockchains, regtest and testnet.
The new signature set is centrally controlled and therefore more reliable than other Bitcoin test grounds. Currently, there is a public signature available, although developers can also rotate it themselves.
Other notable changes in Bitcoin Core
Bitcoin Core now also supports descriptor wallets. These wallets use scripts instead of keys to perform functions, so, among other things, this will make it easier for Bitcoin Core wallets to participate in activities such as multi-signature transactions. It will also pave the way for hardware wallet integration.
In addition to many other minor adjustments, Bitcoin Core now supports SQLite databases and a feature to reduce replay attempts when nodes cannot broadcast transactions to peers. It also comes with a new dashboard to easily view network information and peer node data.
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