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Bitcoin Core + Ladder Script

Pre-built bitcoind + tools — Linux x86_64, macOS arm64, Windows x86_64 — based on Bitcoin Core v30.0

BLOCK_TYPES=65 UNIT_TESTS=665 FUNC_TESTS=143 PATCH_LINES=~1,600 LIBRARY_LINES=~21,900

Reviewer / playground binaries only — not for production. Linux x86_64, macOS arm64, and Windows x86_64. Reproducible Guix builds are not yet wired in. The ~1,600 lines of integration code are in 32 modified Core files; the ~21,900-line library lives in 39 new files (38 under src/rung/ plus the src/rung_shims.h boundary header).

Verify the Download

Each release ships a SHA256SUMS file plus a detached PGP signature SHA256SUMS.asc. Verify the signature first, then check the binary against the SHA file.

# 1. Import the release-signing key (one-time setup).
gpg --keyserver keys.openpgp.org --recv-keys 777FE81F8CC077FD3D08055E852C2B3190F5B928

# 2. Verify SHA256SUMS was signed by the release key.
gpg --verify SHA256SUMS.asc SHA256SUMS
gpg: Good signature from "defenwycke <defenwycke@icloud.com>"

# 3. Verify the binary archive matches.
sha256sum -c SHA256SUMS --ignore-missing
bitcoin-core-ladder-v30.0-ladder-0.23-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz: OK

Release-signing key fingerprint: 777FE81F8CC077FD3D08055E852C2B3190F5B928 — this page is the canonical publication. If gpg --verify reports any other key, do not trust the binary. Cross-check against the same fingerprint in the repo's README.md.

Quick Start

The release tarball ships with a pre-configured bitcoin.conf for the Ladder Script signet. Extract, copy the conf into place, and start the daemon:

tar xzf bitcoin-core-ladder-*-x86_64-linux-gnu.tar.gz
cd bitcoin-core-ladder-*-x86_64-linux-gnu

# Drop the bundled signet config into your bitcoin datadir.
mkdir -p ~/.bitcoin
cp share/examples/bitcoin-ladder.conf ~/.bitcoin/bitcoin.conf

# Start the node. The bundled liboqs.so is found via the binary's
# own RUNPATH ($ORIGIN/../lib), so no LD_LIBRARY_PATH needed.
./bin/bitcoind -daemon
Bitcoin Core starting

# Wait for sync (~30 seconds on the Ladder Script signet).
./bin/bitcoin-cli getblockcount
1216

Create a wallet:

./bin/bitcoin-cli createwallet test
./bin/bitcoin-cli -rpcwallet=test getnewaddress
tb1q...

Generate a post-quantum keypair and a Ladder Script descriptor:

./bin/bitcoin-cli generatepqkeypair FALCON512
{
  "scheme": "FALCON512",
  "pubkey": "09a6753b11f72acd2bf11fa3676...  (897 bytes)",
  "privkey": "590bef41276ef3efa07cf7b18107...  (1281 bytes)"
}

# parse a descriptor (substitute your own pubkey hex)
./bin/bitcoin-cli parseladder "ladder(sig(@a))" '{"a":"<pubkey-hex>"}'
{
  "conditions_hex": "01010001010101000000",
  "conditions_root": "443a7849..."
}

Signet Configuration

The bundled share/examples/bitcoin-ladder.conf contains:

# Ladder Script Signet
signet=1

[signet]
server=1
txindex=1
fallbackfee=0.0001

# Ladder Script signet challenge — `51` is OP_TRUE: anyone can mine,
# no key required. The seed node is the canonical miner; other nodes
# are free to extend the chain too.
signetchallenge=51

# Seed node (Amsterdam).
addnode=85.9.213.194

# RPC credentials — replace the placeholder password before exposing the node.
rpcuser=ladder
rpcpassword=CHANGE_ME_BEFORE_USING

# Don't customise `rpcport` to one of {38332, 38333, 38334} — those are
# bitcoind's default signet RPC, p2p, and Tor onion-bind ports respectively.
# Setting `rpcport=38334` looks like it should work but fails at startup
# (collides with the auto-bound onion listener). Default rpcport (38332) is
# unaffected; if you must change it, pick something outside that range.

# Force v1 p2p transport (current seed only speaks v1).
v2transport=0

If you'd rather use a different datadir, pass -datadir=/path/to/dd to bitcoind and put the conf there instead.

Building

The repository is a Bitcoin Core v30.0 fork on the ladder-script branch — clone, install liboqs, and build with CMake:

git clone https://github.com/defenwycke/bitcoin-core-ladder-script.git
cd bitcoin-core-ladder-script

# liboqs is a HARD dependency — PQ schemes are part of the consensus surface,
# so a node built without liboqs would silently disagree with PQ-enabled nodes.
# On Debian/Ubuntu: build from source per https://github.com/open-quantum-safe/liboqs

cmake -B build -DCMAKE_BUILD_TYPE=Release
cmake --build build -j$(nproc)

# Optional: -DENABLE_QABIO=OFF for the base block set without the QABIO extension

Forked from upstream Bitcoin Core v30.0. The ~1,600-line patch lives across 32 modified files in src/; the ~21,900-line library in 39 new files (38 under src/rung/ plus the src/rung_shims.h boundary header). A single boundary header (src/rung_shims.h) is the only place Core types meet library types. See Annotated Patch for the per-file walkthrough.

RPC Commands

# transaction building
createrungtx       build an unsigned v4 RUNG_TX (shared conditions tree)
signladder         one-call sign using descriptor notation
signrungtx         raw per-input signing path
createrung         build a single LadderWitness from JSON

# descriptor language
parseladder        parse descriptor to conditions hex + MLSC root + pubkeys_hex + merkle_pubkeys_hex
formatladder       format conditions hex as descriptor string (key-aware via pubkeys_hex + keys + merkle_pubkeys_hex args)

# inspection / validation
decoderung         decode a ladder witness from hex
validateladder     validate every witness on a raw v4 RUNG_TX
serialiseconditions serialise conditions for P2SH/P2WSH/P2TR_SCRIPT inner-script use
computectvhash     compute BIP-119 CTV template hash
computemutation    compute mutated conditions for RECURSE_MODIFIED / RECURSE_DECAY
computesighash     compute the v4 sighash for a single input (LadderSighash/v1 or LadderKeyPathSighash/v1) — preview before signing

# PQ helpers
generatepqkeypair  FALCON-512 / FALCON-1024 / Dilithium3 / SPHINCS+
pqpubkeycommit     SHA256(pubkey) commitment for PQ_BATCH

# adaptor signatures (PTLC)
extractadaptorsecret  recover adaptor secret from sig pair
verifyadaptorpresig   verify a Schnorr adaptor pre-signature

# QABIO suite
qabi_buildblock    build a qabi_block from participants + outputs
qabi_blockinfo     decode a qabi_block to JSON
qabi_authchain     generate an auth hash chain
qabi_signqabo      coordinator-side FALCON-512 sign over SIGHASH_QABO
qabi_sighash       compute SIGHASH_QABO for a QABIO tx

Full reference with args / returns / examples for every RPC: RPC Reference.

Links

Ladder Engine — visual builder with live signet connection

Tools — Engine + PQ Batch playground + QABIO playground

Block Reference — documentation for all 65 block types

Docs — specs, FAQ, RPC reference, annotated patch + library

Patch Overview — what changes and how much code

GitHub — full repository