Today, May 2, 2019, marks the official release of Bitcoin Core 0.18.0, the 18th generation of Bitcoin’s original software client launched by Satoshi Nakomoto almost 10 years ago, and still the dominant Bitcoin implementation on the network today. Overseen by Bitcoin Core lead maintainer Wladimir van der Laan, this latest major release was developed over a span of about six months, by over a hundred contributors.Bitcoin Core 0.18.0 includes the typical range of performance improvements and bug fixes, as well as some new features.Here’s an overview of some of the most significant changes.Hardware Wallet CompatibilityOne of the most highly anticipated changes in Bitcoin Core 0.18.0 will be allowing users the ability to connect their hardware wallet (Ledger, Trezor, Digital BitBox, KeepKey and Coldcard) through the Hardware Wallet Interaction (HWI) tool. This combines one of the most secure ways to store your private keys with the most secure way to interact with the blockchain.Hardware wallets are considered secure because the user’s private keys never leave the device. The keys are never exposed to the internet or the computer to which they’re connected, which makes hardware wallets immune to remote hacking.While it is already possible to connect a hardware wallet to an Electrum wallet connected to your full node using the Electrum Personal Server, HWI will be the first native, hardware-to-node option as part of the Bitcoin Co...
