GM, bitcoiner — October 29, 2026

gm

Your morning Bitcoin brief: Bitcoin Core patches a medium-severity memory-growth bug, Google Cloud details a preview MPC Bitcoin custody service, a split Fed holds rates as a December hike looms and other bitcoin news

##Network Stats

As of Oct 29, 2026, 5:03 AM EDT

MARKET
  Price       $80,003  (-1.67%)
  24h volume  $27.3 bn
  Dominance   59.4%
  Sats / $    1,250

NETWORK
  Block       #973,667
  Hashrate    1,087 EH/s
  Difficulty  +5.70%
  Retarget    0 days
  Halving     530 days  (63.7%)

MEMPOOL
  Fee    1 sat/vB
  TX     54,853
  Size   21.6 MB
  Queue  22 blocks

LIGHTNING
  Capacity  2,571 BTC
  Channels  25,211

##Security & Privacy

###Bitcoin Core fixes slow unbounded memory growth from paused pre-BIP31 peers

Rated medium severity: a malicious peer could pretend not to support BIP31 pings to avoid disconnection and grow its send queue by up to 2MB/hour (inbound) or 5MB/hour (outbound). Fixed in 29.5, 30.4, 31.2 and 32.1; -blocksonly nodes are much less affected. bitcoincore.org github.com

###Liquid Federation plans to transfer remaining 600 BTC in coming days to restore full LBTC backing

The Federation says a 2.5 BTC test transaction succeeded. BTC-to-LBTC swaps have resumed via Aqua, Bull Bitcoin and SideSwap; peg-outs remain under enhanced security controls as an independent security audit nears completion. x.com x.com

##Price & Market

###Split Fed rate hold clouds Bitcoin’s comeback as December hike looms

The Fed held its target range at 3.75%–4% on Oct. 28 in a 10-2 vote; Lisa Cook and Beth Hammack dissented in favor of an immediate quarter-point hike. Rate-market trackers put December hike odds at about 83%–88%. cryptoslate.com

##Funds & ETFs

###Bitcoin ETFs add $137M, pushing October back into the green

Bitcoin ETFs drew $424 million over three days, lifting October net inflows to $111 million despite a hawkish Federal Reserve decision and weaker market sentiment. cointelegraph.com

##Institutions & Treasuries

###Google Cloud details preview MPC service for institutional Bitcoin custody

The system splits private keys across separate environments; several banks are testing it ahead of a planned early-2027 launch, Bitcoin Magazine reports. cointelegraph.com bitcoinmagazine.com

###Strategy (MSTR) shareholders approve daily dividends on four preferred stocks

bitcoinmagazine.com

##Regulation & Policy

###Itaú registers with Brazil’s central bank for crypto custody as licensing window closes

The Brazilian banking giant formally registered to intermediate and custody crypto assets under the country’s new licensing rules. bitcoinmagazine.com

##Lightning & L2

###Bitcoin app @blinkbtc adds non-custodial accounts powered by Breez

The new accounts support payments as small as a single sat while keeping the same simple onboarding. x.com x.com

###Blitz takes Nostr Wallet Connect out of experimental

Users can connect Blitz to other apps to check their balance, send payments and request money; the feature is available on iOS and Android. x.com apps.apple.com