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Blockstream Quarterly Update – Q2 2026

Blockstream Quarterly Update - Q2 2026
Blockstream Quarterly Update - Q2 2026

In the newest quarterly update, the Blockstream staff turned months of analysis and roadmaps into merchandise shipped. We proposed a put up-quantum signature opcode for Bitcoin, launched a model new Jade to the lineup, revealed a Liquid Network roadmap that places zero-affirmation (0-conf) and a belief-minimized bridge on the calendar, and shipped two Core Lightning releases.

Major Q2 Highlights

Q2 was 1 / 4 of turning route into supply. Blockstream Research moved put up-quantum Bitcoin from a working deployment on Liquid to an opcode proposal the broader Bitcoin group can consider. Jade has expanded into three fashions that every match a special form of proprietor. An in depth Liquid roadmap set close to-time period dates for 0-conf transactions, new tokenization workflows, and a BitVM-model bridge. And throughout Lightning the staff shipped twice, whereas celebrating the lengthy profession of the engineer who wrote greater than half of Core Lightning.

  • A put up-quantum signature opcode for Bitcoin. Blockstream Research proposed OP_CHECKSHRINCS, a hash-primarily based scheme that reaches as much as 3 transactions per second with 580-byte signatures, properly forward of the NIST-standardized alternate options.
  • The Jade lineup, reimagined. Three concurrent fashions now cowl each stage of self-custody: Jade Classic at $79, Jade Core at $99, and Jade Plus at $149.
  • A Liquid Network roadmap with dates. 0-conf, elimination of the issuance restrict, a BitVM-model bridge, updates to the AMP tokenization platform, and far more. The staff additionally launched new official Liquid Network documentation for simpler integration with LWK, due to suggestions from Liquid Federation members.
  • Blockstream Enterprise, within the subject. we took our full institutional stack to banks and allocators throughout Q2, and is getting ready a restricted beta for a choose group of enterprise clients.
  • Two Core Lightning releases. Version 26.04 graduated splicing out of experimental standing, and 26.06 made xpay the default handler for funds.
  • Analytics and charge limiting for the Explorer API. Release 26.03 added per-API-key utilization historical past and manufacturing-grade charge limits.

Blockstream Research: Post-Quantum Throughput on Bitcoin

In March, Blockstream Research broadcast the primary put up-quantum-signed transactions on the Liquid Network. In Q2, that work turned outward, from a deployment working on a manufacturing sidechain.

In May, Director of Research Jonas Nick revealed the design of OP_CHECKSHRINCS, a proposed Bitcoin opcode constructed on SHRINCS, a stateful hash-primarily based signature scheme. The argument is throughput. The compact configuration reaches as much as 3 transactions per second with 580-byte signatures, in opposition to roughly 0.36 transactions per second for the NIST-standardized SLH-DSA. SHRINCS leans solely on the safety of SHA-256, the identical hash operate Bitcoin already makes use of for proof-of-work, tackle derivation, and Merkle timber, so it provides no new cryptographic assumption to the system. It shipped with a C++ implementation, a Simplicity verifier, and a specification draft the group can learn and take a look at.

Blockstream Quarterly Update - Q2 2026

Two explainers ran alongside the proposal, one breaking down the quantum threat in plain language, together with why a significant share of circulating bitcoin already sits behind uncovered public keys, and one explaining lattice-based signatures as “Schnorr, however with vectors.” Together they map the commerce-offs Bitcoin faces: hash-primarily based schemes like SHRINCS are conservative and deployable now, whereas lattice-primarily based designs carry algebraic flexibility that might someday assist multisignatures. 

On the Simplicity aspect, we hosted a Simplicity hackathon at Blox Space in Turin on May sixteenth and seventeenth. Around 25 builders, over $3,000 in bitcoin because the grand prize, and a panel of judges that included our personal Andrew Poelstra and Seth Schoen produced six completed initiatives in two days. Simplicity is right here and prepared for builders!

Blockstream Consumer: Hardware and Software Advancements

Most individuals who personal bitcoin say they imagine in self-custody. Far fewer really follow it. Roughly 85% of holders say keys needs to be theirs, whereas solely about 30% maintain their very own. We addressed this downside head on with April’s introduction of Jade Core, the simplest offramp from exchanges available on the market.

The lineup now spans three concurrent fashions, all sharing the identical open-supply firmware and blind oracle safety mannequin. 

Jade Classic at $79 is the unique open-supply machine, nonetheless in manufacturing, with USB-C, Bluetooth, a coloration show, and a constructed-in digital camera. 

  • The all new Jade Core at $99 is the off-ramp machine: a easy, 5-minute path off an change for a primary-time proprietor, with free worldwide delivery.
  • Jade Plus at $149 is the superior machine, constructed for max management with air-gapped QR signing, SD card assist, and an aluminum physique. It’s now out there in three slick steel finishes: Sovereign Green, Rose Gold, and Stealth Black.

Jade additionally grew to become extra helpful as an on a regular basis safety machine. In May, firmware 1.0.40 added full two-factor authentication backup. Jade can now import any normal one-time password (OTP) setup by scanning a QR code, together with a migration straight from Google Authenticator, retailer these codes on the machine, and export them as a QR code or secret key. The codes are generated in {hardware}, offline, and keep behind the machine PIN. These OTP information stay on the machine itself slightly than within the pockets seed, so restoring a Jade from the restoration phrase brings again the bitcoin however not the authenticator information.

On the software program aspect, the Blockstream app staff is working to reintroduce Lightning performance by means of a totally vertically built-in Blockstream stack, together with Blockstream-coordinated liquidity providers. Expect extra bulletins about an open beta quickly.

If you haven’t already, download the Blockstream app now for the all-in-one Bitcoin expertise.

Liquid Network: Development Roadmap Released

In May, we revealed an in depth Liquid Network development roadmap that put concrete work on a calendar throughout funds, tokenization and quantum readiness.

For funds, the subsequent main function launch is 0-conf transactions, which carry close to-on the spot, secure-to-act-on transfers to Liquid. Liquid Federation members Boltz and SmartPay have been shut companions and are actively utilizing the general public beta and offering suggestions. The staff is concentrating on a full launch in early July.Since the roadmap announcement, we now have additionally efficiently activated ELIP 203, which eliminated the 21-million issuance restrict. This permits issuers to mint fiat devices and enormous securities with out a man-made cap. A companion proposal nonetheless into account, calledmulti-asset charges (MAF), would moreover let customers pay transaction charges in issued belongings, equivalent to USDT, slightly than solely LBTC, slicing friction in markets the place customers do not hold a steadiness of the native asset.

For establishments, AMP2 rebuilds the asset-administration platform so issuers not have to run node infrastructure or use further scripts. AMP2 has a public launch focused for Q3, with AMP0 to AMP2 migrations working by means of the second half of the 12 months.Bridge economics acquired consideration too: a person pays for peg-in (UPP) possibility and Taproot-based peg-in sweeps that lower prices from roughly 500 sats to twenty-30. Further out, the roadmap features a BitVM-model 1-of-n bridge that lowers the belief assumptions of at the moment’s threshold-signature mannequin, alongside a staged quantum-readiness plan that carries the analysis from the OP_CHECKSHRINCS work onto Liquid.

For builders, the roadmap leans on two items of maturing infrastructure:

  • The Liquid Wallet Kit (LWK) consolidating into the go-to toolkit for Liquid use circumstances, equivalent to asset issuance, Lightning assist, in addition to {hardware} and software program pockets assist.
  • The Simplicity good contracting platform, which is anticipated to have a slew of latest infrastructure improvement, together with launch prototypes for bitcoin-backed lending, a decentralized change (DEX), and a value attestation oracle.

Liquid infrastructure is already carrying actual worth: greater than $5 billion in tokenized actual-world belongings have been issued, and the Blockstream app now shows live fiat prices for Liquid belongings, beginning with USDT and a tokenized U.S. Treasury invoice and increasing to different tokenized securities.

Blockstream Enterprise: In the Field, Ahead of Beta

Blockstream Quarterly Update - Q2 2026

Blockstream Enterprise stayed on the highway in Q2. At the institutional venues the place banks and allocators are deciding how they maintain bitcoin, we introduced our full stack, custody, tokenization, settlement, and formally verifiable good contracts, on major levels and in arms-on workshops. A devoted group fronts these conversations, led by Sagun Garg, Director of Enterprise Products and Solutions, and Phil Barkett, VP of Enterprise Products, with product supervisor Gianmarco Guazzo working workshops on deploying institutional good contracts with out the same old execution threat.

The clearest pull is in European banking, run from Blockstream’s Lugano headquarters. As presenting associate of the Crypto Valley Conference in Zug, the enterprise staff held two days of institutional conferences and hosted a builders-and-establishments cruise on Lake Zug. That curiosity is popping into joint work: in early July, we sit down with the banking groups at Swisscom and Luzerner Kantonalbank to write down formally verifiable lending contracts on Liquid collectively.

Behind that subject work is product improvement. Blockstream Enterprise is getting ready a restricted beta entry for a choose group of enterprise clients, with configurable workspace safety insurance policies and each software and SDK interfaces. Institutions that need a nearer look can request access forward of the beta.

Explorer API: Analytics and Rate Limiting

Developers constructing on the Blockstream Explorer API bought higher visibility into their very own utilization in Q2. Release 26.03 added per-API-key utilization historical past with visible charts throughout each Bitcoin mainnet and Liquid, time-vary choice, and a billing-interval abstract, so a staff can see precisely what it is consuming and forecast what it would want. The identical launch launched manufacturing-grade charge limiting on paid tiers, with limitless calls reserved for Enterprise, plus customizable entry-token expiration from 5 to 300 minutes. The result’s an API that is simpler to funds for and extra reliable underneath load, whether or not a developer is on the free tier or working manufacturing infrastructure.

Core Lightning: Two Releases and a Farewell

Core Lightning shipped twice in Q2. In April, version 26.04, “Negative Routing Fees,” graduated splicing out of experimental standing, so node operators can resize channels with out closing and reopening them. The launch landed 421 commits from 23 authors over 110 days, added a quicker parallel path-discovering engine, expanded the bookkeeper accounting plugin, and trimmed binary measurement by roughly 20%.

Cln-application launch v26.04 targeted on making channel administration, accounting, and troubleshooting extra sensible for node operators. The launch added the flexibility to pressure-shut a channel when a peer stays disconnected for 10 seconds, improved channel-state pending particulars in tooltips, and launched customized charge-charge controls for channel openings and withdrawals. Bookkeeper gained a filtering dropdown for the steadiness sheet and sats-movement screens. 

In June, CLN version 26.06, “Quantum-Resistant Lightning Channel,” launched bwatch, an experimental block-watching plugin, made xpay the default handler for funds, and added a brand new createproof command to generate a cryptographic fee proof for a accomplished BOLT12 provide fee, permitting the sender to verifiably display that the fee was efficiently fulfilled to the recipient. It additionally widened the channel-closure dispute window from 12 to 72 blocks, giving node operators extra room to reply to a disputed shut. The launch carried 236 commits from 19 authors in 42 days.

Our Lightning leaders represented Core Lightning on the Vienna protocol summit, collaborating within the discussions shaping Lightning’s subsequent chapter. Privacy and resilience, messaging and funds have been high on the agenda.

Lightning’s BOLT specs stay in-progress paperwork, with adjustments superior by means of public proposals, pull requests, evaluate, and eventual implementation work. The Vienna discussions establish priorities and potential subsequent steps; a subject solely turns into a community-extensive normal as soon as it progresses by means of that open specification course of 

In extra bittersweet information, we revealed a retrospective on Rusty Russell in June, who’s leaving after eleven years. Rusty wrote the primary Lightning implementation, chaired the BOLT specification course of, created the lnprototest compliance suite, and championed BOLT 12 Offers from 2020 till it shipped. The numbers inform their very own story: 9,762 commits to Core Lightning, about 54% of each commit within the venture, with solely 18 reverts throughout practically ten thousand adjustments. 

For Rusty, Vienna marked the final of many such summits—a becoming last gathering after greater than a decade serving to construct, specify, and advance the Lightning protocol.

His first commit, on May 26, 2015, was a “foolish cmdline util to create an openchannel packet.” Everything Lightning grew to become at Blockstream traces again by means of that work, and we want Rusty properly in all his future endeavors.

Media & Event Highlights

Blockstream Quarterly Update - Q2 2026

Adam Back

    • CNBC’s Squawk Box and Bloomberg, denying the Satoshi report and confirming he’s not Bitcoin’s creator, with an April 9 video, an April 10 podcast giving three technical causes in opposition to the speculation, and a May 2 feature on being at peace with Wall Street’s Bitcoin period.
    • Forbes, on the $80 billion threat premium the Satoshi hypothesis created, and the Endgame with Amanda Cassatt podcast, on Bitcoin’s origins and the Satoshi thriller.
    • Keynotes at Paris Blockchain Week, on Bitcoin’s evolution past a retailer of worth, and at BTC Prague 2026.
    • Bitcoin Magazine at Bitcoin 2026 in Las Vegas, with Strategy’s Phong Le, on constructing Bitcoin’s technical and monetary infrastructure.
    • BitGo’s From the Vault with Mike Belshe and Bitcoin Suisse, on quantum readiness and why Bitcoin’s migration clock is already ticking.
    • Crypto Valley Conference in Zug, a fireplace with Luzerner Kantonalbank’s Serge Kaulitz.
    • Consensus 2026 Miami, on Bitcoin’s safety benefit over DeFi.
    • FOX Business’s The Claman Countdown, on Bitcoin as a discovery slightly than an invention.
    • Proof of Talk on the Louvre, with Franklin Templeton CEO Jenny Johnson, broadcast on Bloomberg.

Jonas Nick

    • The Bitcoin Rails podcast with BIP 360 co-creator Ethan Heilman, on put up-quantum signature schemes and Blockstream Research’s hash-primarily based signature work.
    • The major stage at OPNEXT 2026 in New York presenting OP_CHECKSHRINCS, and a Bitcoin 2026 Las Vegas panel on put up-quantum signatures with Tadge Dryja and conduition, moderated by Brink’s Mike Schmidt.

Andrew Poelstra

    • A Bitcoin 2026 Las Vegas speak on Verifiable Smart Contracts with Simplicity.

Sagun Garg

Peter Bain

    • TheStreet Roundtable, on Bitcoin because the infrastructure layer for finance and Liquid’s observe document.
    • BeInCrypto on the Web3 Banking Symposium in Zurich, on Bitcoin’s lengthy-time period imaginative and prescient and accelerating adoption.
    • Citi Institute’s Tokenization 2030 report, which featured his interview on tokenization on the Liquid Network.

Looking Ahead: Q3 Priorities

  • Consumer: Expand the Blockstream app capabilities with AMP2 assist and the extremely anticipated return of native Lightning expertise. Stay tuned!
  • Liquid: Two Elements releases are deliberate for Q3: 23.4.0 and 23.5.0, which is able to assist UPP (ELIP 202), 0-conf, and implement a number of older community insurance policies (Dust-CT and Discount-CT) by default to enhance the general node-working expertise.
  • Enterprise: Add ETF protection for the Cryptocurrency Data Feed, refresh the GUI for Explorer API with extra granular options, and the custody answer and AMP2 tokenization platform each transfer into beta with current companions.
  • Research: Quantum-ready Confidential Assets, a draft SHRINCS Bitcoin Improvement Proposal, and finishing the ChillDKG BIP, alongside ongoing contributions to libsecp256k1 and upkeep of libsecp256k1-zkp.
  • Lightning: Planning for a Core Lightning v26.09 launch, upgrading Greenlight to Core Lightning v26.06. We may even proceed enhancing Lightning performance within the Blockstream app, which is powered by Greenlight expertise.

For extra data, go to blockstream.com, attain out to press@blockstream.com, or DM @Blockstream on X.

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