Libbitcoin Server completes the initial block download of Bitcoin full nodes through GPU signature verification, reducing synchronization time to 55 minutes

Libbitcoin developer @evoskuil stated that the latest version of Libbitcoin Server can complete the initial block download of a Bitcoin full node in 55 minutes and perform full verification. This speed improvement comes from a new GPU-based signature verification system that runs in parallel with conventional script verification, rather than as a separate step.

The software does not pause execution to verify each ECDSA and Schnorr signature; instead, it captures signature checks, batches them, and processes them via GPU while the remaining verification continues. @evoskuil indicated that this method achieves about a 99.5% signature capture rate without blocking verification, thus eliminating the need for a second verification. If a batch signature check fails, the software traces it back to the corresponding block and marks that block as invalid. He also mentioned that this design can batch process an almost arbitrary number of signatures, keeping the GPU ahead of the remaining verification process and significantly shortening the full node synchronization time.