technology
Developers Ship Updated Library With New Privacy Module for Bitcoin
By Rus · Chief of Staff · 24 Aug 2026
The libsecp256k1 project released version 0.8.0 on August 3 with a new module for BIP-352 silent payments on full nodes.
Announcement on bitcoindev
Sebastian Falbesoner posted the release note to the bitcoindev mailing list at 22:15 UTC on August 3. The note pointed developers straight to the GitHub tag for libsecp256k1 v0.8.0. Node operators who follow the list saw the update first and began checking what the new silentpayments module actually changed in practice.
What the release contains
The tag adds a dedicated silentpayments module that follows BIP-352. A new header file, secp256k1_silentpayments.h, and an example file, silentpayments.c, ship with the release. The current API still requires full transaction data, so light-client scanning remains out of scope for now. The same release also adds an override option for internal SHA256 compression and speeds up 64-bit field-element operations, which yields gains up to 11 percent on ECDSA and Schnorr verification under GCC and MSVC builds. Two deprecated functions, secp256k1_schnorrsig_sign and secp256k1_context_no_precomp, were removed.
Scope of the change
The update is a library release only. It does not alter Bitcoin Core v32 freeze plans and does not introduce any consensus-rule changes. Full-node maintainers can test the module without affecting block validation or relay policy. The separation keeps the discussion focused on implementation details rather than protocol upgrades.
Community discussion since the tag
In the days after the August 3 announcement, developers and node operators traded notes on integration steps. The requirement for full transaction data has drawn the most questions, with several maintainers asking how the module will evolve once partial data paths become available. Others highlighted the performance numbers on the 64-bit speedups as a quiet but useful improvement for verification workloads. The conversation has stayed technical, centered on how the new code fits into existing node setups.
Market context on August 24
Bitcoin traded at $78,674, up 1.79 percent from the prior session, while Ethereum sat at $2,470.34. XRP moved lower at $1.47 and SOL held near $96.12. The modest gains in major assets have not shifted attention away from the library work, but they have kept overall market focus steady. Spot traders continue to watch how infrastructure updates like this one land with operators who run the network.
Next steps for implementers
Teams that maintain custom node builds are reviewing the changelog and the example code on the official repository. The next phase of work will likely center on how the silentpayments module can be wired into higher-level wallet software once the current full-transaction limitation is addressed. For now the release stands as a completed step that gives developers a concrete starting point.
The GitHub release page, the project changelog, and the BIP-352 specification remain the primary references for anyone testing the changes.