RougeChain node release 1.6.11: testnet faucet fix; shielded pool V2 on testnet at block 1480 (2026-10)

Required for every testnet node before testnet block 1480. Recommended for mainnet nodes. Mainnet consensus is unchanged: the shielded pool V2 has no activation height on mainnet.

What changed

• Testnet: faucet payouts apply the same on every node. Testnet runs without a genesis file, so a node decided whether a faucet payout creates new coins by comparing the sender with its own key. Only the node holding the faucet key applied it as a mint; every other testnet node applied it as an ordinary transfer and rejected the block on its state root (first seen at testnet block 1467). From 1.6.11 a fixed testnet mint-authority key (the project's testnet node, 41d7fc30…, which signed every testnet faucet payout) decides on every testnet node. The producing node's result is unchanged, so testnet history is unchanged. Mainnet keeps its genesis authority set.
• Testnet: the shielded pool V2 (shield_v2, shielded_transfer_v2, unshield_v2) activates at testnet block 1480. From that block testnet nodes accept, verify and apply these transactions under the rules of the shielded pool V2 specification, and the POST /api/shield-v2/submit route added in 1.6.9 starts admitting them. A testnet node on an older release will reject the first block that carries one, so upgrade before block 1480.
• Mainnet: no change. The release replays mainnet history to the same state root as 1.6.9.
• Installer 2.1.1 (install-validator.sh): adds Ubuntu 26.04 to the supported systems. Nodes with auto-update replace their updater with this signed version. No other behaviour changes.
• quantum-vault-daemon --version reports 1.6.11. The rougechain CLI is unchanged (1.3.0).

Everything in release 1.6.9 is included, and everything planned for 1.6.10 (which was never published).

Production binary

Built twice from clean; the two builds were byte-identical. The release is described by manifests signed with the release keys (Signed releases). The testnet manifest marks the release mandatory with upgrade_before_height 1480, so testnet nodes with auto-update install it within minutes of seeing it.

Upgrade

Nodes installed with the one-line installer and auto-update install this release by themselves. Otherwise:

curl -fLo /tmp/quantum-vault-daemon https://api.rougechain.io/releases/quantum-vault-daemon-testnetfix-c208989
echo "471567227439993159a169e5ab1c99b9a7373bb81cf7654cf2c5967ad59111b5  /tmp/quantum-vault-daemon" | sha256sum -c
systemctl cat rougechain-validator | grep ExecStart      # the first path is the binary your node runs
BIN=/path/from/ExecStart/quantum-vault-daemon             # set this to that path
sudo systemctl stop rougechain-validator
sudo cp -p "$BIN" "$BIN.pre-1.6.11" && sudo install -m 755 /tmp/quantum-vault-daemon "$BIN"
sudo systemctl start rougechain-validator

Check after the restart: the node follows the chain as before, "$BIN" --version prints quantum-vault-daemon 1.6.11, and on testnet GET /api/stats shows "shield_v2": 1480 in upgrade_schedule.

To go back, stop the node, restore the .pre-1.6.11 binary and start it again (on testnet only before block 1480).