We verify five Bitcoin full node implementations that assert compatibility with Bitcoin Core's consensus rules: Bitcoin Core, Bitcoin Knots, btcd (Btcsuite), Libbitcoin, and Bcoin. For each, we confirm:
- Maintenance status (as of 2025)
- Current maintainers
- Consensus rule compatibility with Bitcoin Core
- Non-consensus differences (e.g., APIs, language, wallets)
- Recent release activity
All five are actively maintained and enforce Bitcoin Core's block validation rules, avoiding consensus forks.
Summary Table
| Implementation | Active Maintenance | Maintainers | Consensus Compatibility | Notable Differences |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin Core | Yes (v29.0 in 2025) | Decentralized team (Stepanov, Ford, Chow, Zhao, etc.) | Defines Bitcoin consensus | Written in C++; includes wallet & GUI |
| Bitcoin Knots | Yes (v28.1.knots20250305) | Luke Dashjr | Fully compatible | C++ fork of Core; more mempool/mining config options |
| btcd | Yes (v0.24.0+) | Btcsuite team (incl. roasbeef) | Fully compatible | Written in Go; no wallet; used by Lightning nodes |
| Libbitcoin | Yes (v4 in development) | Libbitcoin team (Voskuil, Mienk, etc.) | Fully compatible | Modular C++ library; no GUI; toolkit-style |
| Bcoin | Yes (v2.2.0 in 2024) | Bcoin team (Jeffrey, Fuller, Zipkin) | Fully compatible | Written in Node.js; rich API; enterprise-ready |
Bitcoin Core
- Maintenance: Active. Version 29.0 released in 2025. Release Notes
- Maintainers: Decentralized team – Hennadii Stepanov, Michael Ford, Andrew Chow, Gloria Zhao.
- Consensus Compatibility: Reference implementation. Defines Bitcoin consensus.
- Notable Differences: C++ codebase, includes wallet and GUI (Bitcoin-Qt), default policy settings.
- Releases: Frequent updates – v28.1 in Jan 2025, v29.0 in 2025.
Bitcoin Knots
- Maintenance: Active. Latest release:
28.1.knots20250305(March 2025). Official Site - Maintainer: Luke Dashjr (Core contributor).
- Consensus Compatibility: Matches Core 1:1. No changes to block validation.
- Notable Differences: More configurable mempool & mining policy, UI enhancements,
rejectparasites, Full-RBF enabled. - Releases: Tracks Core releases closely with custom patches and policy tweaks.
btcd (Btcsuite)
- Maintenance: Active. Version
v0.24.0released Dec 2023; patched in 2024. Release Notes - Maintainers: Btcsuite developers, incl. Lightning Labs' Olaoluwa Osuntokun (@roasbeef), Oliver Gugger.
- Consensus Compatibility: Identical to Core. Passes Core test vectors and validation logic.
- Notable Differences: Written in Go. No wallet or GUI. Used as backend for Lightning nodes.
- Releases: Consistent since 2013; major performance updates in 2023–2024.
Libbitcoin
- Maintenance: Active. Version 4 in development (as of 2023). Bitcoin Wiki
- Maintainers: Eric Voskuil, Phillip Mienk, Neill Miller, others.
- Consensus Compatibility: Implements Core rules; can optionally link Core consensus code.
- Notable Differences: Modular C++ library suite. No GUI. Designed for integration and developer control.
- Releases: Major v3.0 in 2017; active development continues for v4.0.
Bcoin
- Maintenance: Active. Version
v2.2.0released Nov 2024. Changelog - Maintainers: Christopher Jeffrey, Braydon Fuller, Matthew Zipkin.
- Consensus Compatibility: Validates/matches Core rules; mined valid mainnet blocks.
- Notable Differences: Written in Node.js. REST/JSON-RPC APIs. Built-in wallet. Supports BCH mode (optional).
- Releases: Ongoing development; v2.0+ with Taproot support.
Conclusion
- All five implementations are actively maintained in 2024–2025.
- They enforce Bitcoin Core's consensus rules.
- Differences exist only in non-consensus areas (language, APIs, UI).
- They provide alternative ways to run a full Bitcoin node.
- They are in production use across the ecosystem.
Projects like Bitcoin Knots, btcd, Libbitcoin, and Bcoin ensure diversity without risking network forks.