Coinbase maturity · whole chain

Coming at block 979,920: the lock extends to 1 Sep 2027.

Knots 29.4.3 — still a release candidate (v29.4.3.knots20260508rc1) — extends this rule. Every coinbase mined from block 973,440 onward will stay locked until the chain's median time reaches 1 Sep 2027, 00:00 UTC, instead of unlocking at block 979,920. Nodes and miners must upgrade before block 979,920: 2,714 blocks to go (about 2 Nov 2026). Because it is a release candidate, details can still change before the final release; if they do, this notice changes with them. We will run the final release on our node before block 979,920.

Newly mined coins are locked for 6,480 blocks — until block 979,920.

In force since block 973,440. Every coinbase mined from block 973,440 onward cannot move until block 979,920 — 2,714 blocks to go (about 2 Nov 2026).

What PyBLØCK has done. Our node is already running v29.4.2.knots20260508, since 2026-09-21. We said we would upgrade at RC2, and we have.

What that changes for you, plainly. This already applies, and it did not wait for block 973,440: our node no longer passes on a spend of any reward younger than 6,480 confirmations. That is about our node relaying, not about whether the coin is yours: a reward mined before block 973,440 matures at the usual 100 confirmations and your balance shows it as spendable, because it is. Your coins are not frozen and we are not holding them. They are valid, they are already yours on-chain, and any other wallet or node still broadcasts them — most of the network has not upgraded. What changes is our node, not your ownership.

Why this is easier here than elsewhere. Your reward is written straight into the block's coinbase, to your address: it is already yours on-chain, and nothing here is held by us: we cannot spend it, and we are not paid first. A custodial pool instead collects the whole coinbase and pays you later out of its own balance; while that coinbase is locked, it has to fund every payout from reserves. We front nothing, so there is nothing here that can run out.

Why the date is sooner than 45 days: the rule counts blocks, not time. 6,480 blocks is about 45 days at the usual 10-minute spacing, but this chain is currently running faster (~45 days at the recent pace), so the unlock lands earlier. The block height is the part that is fixed; every date here is an estimate that moves with the chain.

Until now a block reward could be moved after 100 blocks, about 16 hours. This is a rule of the Bitcoin BLAKE2b client, not of this pool: it applies to every coinbase on the chain, whoever mined it, and there is nothing we can change from our side. What you are owed does not change — only how long it sits before it moves. Payouts keep being written straight into the block's own coinbase, to your address, with nothing held by us. That also means your share is locked the same way ours is: we are not paid first.

Why this starts before block 973,440. The wallet and relay side of this release applies the long wait to every reward, on purpose and independently of the chain rule — the proposal says so in as many words. We ran the release on an isolated node of our own to be sure: the cut-off sits exactly at 6,480 confirmations whenever the reward was mined, and it already applies with the activation still in the future. So it is not something that gets fixed before the flag day: it is what the client does, and it is a client behaviour rather than a rule of this pool.

The same announcement says that whoever mines without running their own node and gateway is not really mining and might not be paid at all in the future. That is a stated intention in the change itself — not code, and no mechanism for it exists today. We are not going to pretend we know how it would be administered. We tell you because you should have the whole picture. If it ever becomes a real rule, you will read it here first.

What we recommend, for what it is worth. If you are going to be waiting on a longer maturity anyway, this is a good moment to run your own node and DATUM gateway. Not because it exempts you from the wait — it does not, and anyone telling you otherwise is wrong: the rule applies to every coinbase on the chain, whoever built the block. Run it because it is simply better for you. Your node picks the transactions, so we never see your selection and could not censor one if we wanted to. And you keep more, because there is no node-runner cut when you are the node runner: 99% on CAROUSEL, against 98% over our stratum (CHIRP already pays 100% either way: it runs 100% on DATUM). The waiting is the same either way — what changes is how much of the block is yours when it unlocks, and who decided what went into it. How to run it →

Running your own node and gateway is what WAVICLES already does, and it is now available for CAROUSEL and CHIRP too — see PATUM for the one-click installer.