Bitcoin Core development activity surges, ending years of decline

ChainCatcher reported that the Bitcoin development ecosystem has seen a significant revival, with Bitcoin Core development activity rising sharply, ending a long period of stagnation since the late 2010s. Data shows that discussions on the Bitcoin development mailing list have increased by about 60% year-on-year, becoming a key signal of renewed developer engagement; a total of 135 independent code contributors participated in protocol optimization throughout the year, marking a clear expansion in the developer base.

On the technical front, 2025 saw the completion of the first-ever third-party security audit in Bitcoin’s history. This audit was conducted by cybersecurity firm Quarkslab and funded by the non-profit organization Brink, focusing on the peer-to-peer network layer. The conclusion stated that the codebase is “mature and thoroughly tested,” with no severe or high-risk vulnerabilities found. This result has significantly boosted the confidence of institutional and sovereign-level participants in Bitcoin’s infrastructure.

In addition, the Bitcoin Core v30 release introduced mempool policy updates, including adjustments to OP_RETURN data limits, driving the development of native Bitcoin applications and sparking widespread discussion about the long-term impact of on-chain data storage. In terms of funding, 2025 saw a marked strengthening of institutionalized funding for open-source Bitcoin development. Organizations such as Brink, Btrust, and OpenSats expanded their funding pools, and some spot Bitcoin ETF issuers began formally “giving back” to the underlying infrastructure. Among them, VanEck continued its commitment to donate 5% of ETF profits to support development. This shift means core maintainers are no longer highly dependent on a volunteer model.

As we enter 2026, development priorities have shifted to Lightning Network scalability and enhancing privacy with Silent Payments. Analysts believe that Bitcoin is evolving from a “static store of value” into a financial infrastructure technology platform with ongoing evolutionary capabilities.