TL;DR:
- The Bitcoin Knots repository merged pull request #419 on September 21, 2026, extending the maturity of coinbase transactions from 100 confirmations to 45 days.
- The technical measure takes effect at block 973440 and will span until block 979920, according to code records published by Luke Dashjr.
- The BTCB2 asset trades between $270 and $315 as of September 21, 2026, representing an 84% drop from its peak of $1,799 reached earlier this month.
Mining rewards on the Bitcoin BLAKE2b network will be locked for 45 days starting at block 973440. Network developers scheduled the lock for next Tuesday, September 22.
The modification was formalized through pull request #419 in the Bitcoin Knots client, titled Long coinbase maturity. Developer Luke Dashjr opened this change on September 15, 2026, and the official GitHub repository recorded its definitive merge on September 21, 2026.
Miners can spend the balance generated in a block after accumulating 100 confirmations on the Bitcoin mainnet. This minority fork temporarily extends that maturity window until block 979920.
Release notes accuse certain operators of performing blind computation without validating legitimate transactions. According to statements by Dashjr, this adjustment represents the first step of a three-phase plan focused on curbing the concentration of processing power in large mining pools.
Project technical data indicates that the maturity window could be extended to a full year in later stages. Under that scenario projected by the developers, blocks generated by entities classified as non-miners would forfeit their rewards if the network reaches consensus.
Technical Background and Risk of Chain Fragmentatio
The fork originated from supporters of the BIP-110 standard and Bitcoin Knots proponents who sought to exclude non-monetary data from the blockchain. After failing to gain community support, this group executed the split at block height 961,632 on August 8, 2026.
The new protocol initially inherited Bitcoin’s mining difficulty, which paralyzed block generation for nearly three weeks. Miners completed barely eight blocks in their first 22 days of operation.
The network resumed activity once its programmers integrated the BLAKE2b hash function, reduced the maximum block size, and reset the difficulty parameters.
The derived token, identified on trading platforms as BTCB2 or XBT, experienced high volatility during its first weeks of listing. Market records show that the asset reached a peak price of $1,799 in early September 2026.
As of September 21, 2026, the price fluctuates within the range of $270 to $315 per unit.
The implementation of this 45-day lock drew objections during the code review on GitHub. A technical warning issued on September 18, 2026, indicated that any node running the new rules without the backing of the majority of hashpower could end up isolated on an accidental fork.
Exchange Neoxa, one of the platforms listing the trading pair, announced that it will support the soft fork across its mining infrastructure starting at block 973440.
