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RELEASE-NOTES-8.26.2.md

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DigiByte Core v8.26.2 Release Notes

Release Date: January 2026 Full Changelog: https://github.com/DigiByte-Core/digibyte/compare/v8.26.1...v8.26.2

Summary

DigiByte Core v8.26.2 is a maintenance release containing critical bug fixes for RPC performance and correctness issues. All users are strongly encouraged to upgrade.

This release addresses two bugs that were introduced during the Bitcoin Core v26.2 merge:

  1. Performance regression in getblockchaininfo RPC (6-10x slowdown)
  2. Incorrect difficulty reporting in getmininginfo RPC

Notable Changes

Fix: getblockchaininfo RPC Performance Regression (#345)

Issue: The getblockchaininfo RPC call was taking approximately 3 seconds to complete on nodes with fully synced chains, compared to sub-second responses in previous versions.

Root Cause: The Bitcoin Core v26.2 merge inadvertently changed the difficulty calculation to use GetLastBlockIndexForAlgo(), which performs an O(n) linear search through the blockchain to find the last block for each mining algorithm. With DigiByte's ~23 million blocks and 5-6 difficulty lookups per RPC call, this caused significant latency.

Fix: Changed to use GetLastBlockIndexForAlgoFast(), which uses DigiByte's pre-existing O(1) cached algorithm lookup infrastructure. This function is already proven in PoW validation code paths.

Impact:

  • Before: ~3 seconds per RPC call
  • After: ~0.3-0.5 seconds per RPC call
  • 6-10x performance improvement

Fix: getmininginfo Difficulty Returns Wrong Algorithm (#346)

Issue: The difficulty field in getmininginfo RPC was returning a fixed value that didn't change regardless of the current mining algorithm. Investigation revealed it was always returning Groestl's difficulty (algo=2).

Root Cause: During the Bitcoin Core v26.2 merge, the miningAlgo parameter was accidentally omitted from the GetDifficulty() call, causing it to default to algorithm 2 (Groestl) instead of using the node's configured mining algorithm.

Fix: Restored the miningAlgo parameter to the GetDifficulty() call so that the reported difficulty correctly reflects the current mining algorithm.

Impact: Mining pools and monitoring tools now receive correct difficulty values for their configured algorithm.

Files Changed

File Change
src/rpc/blockchain.cpp Use fast O(1) algorithm lookup for difficulty calculation
src/rpc/mining.cpp Restore miningAlgo parameter to GetDifficulty() call

Upgrade Instructions

For Node Operators

  1. Stop your DigiByte node: digibyte-cli stop
  2. Replace binaries with v8.26.2 release
  3. Start node: digibyted

No configuration changes or reindex required.

For Miners and Mining Pools

This release is critical for mining operations. The getmininginfo bug caused incorrect difficulty reporting which could affect stratum difficulty calculations.

  1. Update to v8.26.2 immediately
  2. Verify correct difficulty reporting: digibyte-cli getmininginfo
  3. Confirm the difficulty field matches your configured mining algorithm

For Exchanges and Services

The performance improvement in getblockchaininfo may significantly reduce RPC latency for monitoring and status checks. No action required beyond the standard upgrade process.

Testing

Both fixes include regression tests to prevent future occurrences:

  • Performance benchmarks for getblockchaininfo RPC
  • Algorithm-specific difficulty verification in feature_digibyte_multialgo_mining.py

Credits

Thanks to the community members who reported these issues and contributed to the investigation:

  • Issue #345 reported by community members experiencing RPC slowdowns
  • Issue #346 reported by mining pool operators noticing incorrect difficulty values

SHA256 Checksums

SHA256 checksums for all release binaries are published on the GitHub Releases page.

Previous Release

For changes in v8.26.1, see: https://github.com/DigiByte-Core/digibyte/releases/tag/v8.26.1