I’ve been running a Bitcoin full node on an Ubuntu server for years. Bitcoind connects via Tor to hide my Bitcoin usage from my ISP. In mid-December, I stopped downloading new blocks.
This is how my bitcoin.conf used to look like:
proxy=127.0.0.1:9050
listen=1
bind=127.0.0.1
As soon as I commented out the above lines, new blocks were successfully downloaded (but I’m no longer behind Tor).
Tor seems to be running fine on my server. I can still connect to a hidden service set up on the same machine, and the output of curl --socks5 localhost:9050 --socks5-hostname localhost:9050 -s https://check.torproject.org/ | cat | grep -m 1 Congratulations | xargs is ‘Congratulations. This browser is configured to use Tor.’
I would like to resume using my node behind Tor. Any help is appreciated.
btw: I’m using Bitcoin Core 0.21.1.
EDIT 1: adding debug.log lines for debugging
Only net and tor
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Default data directory /home/user/.bitcoin
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Using data directory /home/user/.bitcoin
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Config file arg: debug="tor"
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Config file arg: debug="net"
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Config file arg: torcontrol="127.0.0.1:9051"
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Using at most 125 automatic connections (1024 file descriptors available)
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Using 16 MiB out of 32/2 requested for signature cache, able to store 524288 elements
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Using 16 MiB out of 32/2 requested for script execution cache, able to store 524288 elements
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Using wallet directory /home/user/.bitcoin/wallets
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z Loaded 0 banned node ips/subnets from banlist.dat 1ms
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z net: setting try another outbound peer=false
2026-01-15T17:58:21Z SetNetworkActive: true
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z torcontrol thread start
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Reading cached private key from /home/user/.bitcoin/onion_v3_private_key
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Successfully connected!
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Connected to Tor version 0.4.2.7
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Supported authentication method: COOKIE
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Supported authentication method: SAFECOOKIE
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Using SAFECOOKIE authentication, reading cookie authentication from /run/tor/control.authcookie
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: SAFECOOKIE authentication challenge successful
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: AUTHCHALLENGE ServerHash 372b81d437887271f8df7fc25495192c7e313aefbbd34f10ecce52c35117a14a ServerNonce 4c82930169f4867c515e747889a7172a7efa03e8c0002237fe468c067a75072f
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Authentication successful
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: ADD_ONION successful
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Got service ID [REDACTED], advertising service [REDACTED]
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z tor: Cached service private key to /home/user/.bitcoin/onion_v3_private_key
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z init message: Starting network threads...
2026-01-15T17:58:26Z net thread start
2026-01-15T17:59:37Z IP 5bxpoorrgyhsc5746rg4advtjmxkpfwo4vhokze7xv7vcaa3anetujid.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 597
2026-01-15T17:59:37Z IP o424yp6r46hvkl7vywotor4npu7tzynp3jfugkuzuigiixq47cvsk3id.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 421
2026-01-15T17:59:37Z IP z4zjvj27uxkzwmltkyd4jslrkqpeqtkztfql2nlsunetkkkl7vma.b32.i2p mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 701
2026-01-15T18:02:21Z IP iohpvtorn3wwaohndavmn32r7qmwyh4lziigx5tlklbcvifjpig62vad.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 581
2026-01-15T18:02:21Z IP xho5ycy6kkgj5dczptcmhgpdgwynu5byrox4dtpkqliud4itorcr5wqd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 753
2026-01-15T18:03:31Z IP ohueupl4v2i4wzxgky5knol4rrc4ww77ikpej2qii452jq4f36storyd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 671
2026-01-15T18:03:50Z IP cfjssiyyeoyqyyxtwsaf72akmq27mguqneto3gawnntkbrpwv2kwzcad.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 986
2026-01-15T18:04:25Z IP vt3netllie5yxnousz2uayhuesat374y3yqy2mdnlkvnj33kuztiwxyd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 788
2026-01-15T18:04:25Z IP 3asxetcfloaof7ropjuytwu53w4pfdznbyztorerdfx3r2wu6uo7ceid.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 439
2026-01-15T18:04:25Z IP kyg2epqf7khki2gg3nyyqjk3km5uhap3nm3yfxr4torv47mdvt64k6ad.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 598
2026-01-15T18:04:25Z IP p2hhpa3p7ddlfuq6lqeobasthed26ke3izokzhm5torzez2zwerp7sad.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 671
2026-01-15T18:04:25Z IP w25atujfdj36il65yvaw57gdnoz7cpywi4zt2t4j5mdyws55vbtoryad.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 157
2026-01-15T18:04:25Z IP c5chw4x3sdjwfb562voswjmulnetdfoo2yuyyk2dsn3sxt43gazwzfqd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 451
2026-01-15T18:04:58Z IP dctorbpmfm7gst7azmizkm77vdy5rvu7fdzavw76fcf4zvmlxf3hekyd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 284
2026-01-15T18:05:47Z IP bjghbgtorf5oo5pysfprskxgmwfaoftdanl7auybsoxsnsa25abfxvid.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 208
2026-01-15T18:05:47Z IP vt3netllie5yxnousz2uayhuesat374y3yqy2mdnlkvnj33kuztiwxyd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 275
2026-01-15T18:05:47Z IP fnrjipn7dhmqtjbgkmpnrwhnnh2ck33b3xj4bgt2o5uougtorfyccxyd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 431
2026-01-15T18:05:49Z IP uapjeoejlmib4dfawckkkk7j6pvcluy2fyqoijgohmxhuvumrnet2oqd.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 556
2026-01-15T18:06:21Z IP lhqtdpyolrrrstor6gb7rxghcpbiho7ovvsdzb5qqoxvd5octk7q.b32.i2p mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 467
2026-01-15T18:06:21Z IP bjghbgtorf5oo5pysfprskxgmwfaoftdanl7auybsoxsnsa25abfxvid.onion mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 208
2026-01-15T18:06:29Z IP wxklwhdibdvf7oqnqq7mgj4netmh23eltlrjt74umvip3mmbmczq.b32.i2p mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 100
2026-01-15T18:06:29Z IP bhaxngxdukwozs56uicpkplumugzes3qsplcprnmtor54xon5m7a.b32.i2p mapped to AS0 belongs to new bucket 531`
Last 50 lines:
2026-01-15T18:07:10Z Requesting wtx 83745b479de7e61531d8768200d7adc623bf858607b1aa922052719a1e2d1f45 peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:10Z Requesting wtx 8f6880e4d990434e27867d93478aef4d882ee646397f9a1117c2f81a435066b8 peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:10Z Requesting wtx 6238d4030ee8b070bfe0263d84096743b7c11920c709c9355c11b919436ae0d7 peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:10Z Requesting wtx ee14f69afe8a1b775e09ee9ba0f5a6dbc010443e99ca6b10432699b1890394c0 peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:10Z Requesting wtx 92c9567b5adcfe9a2bf66530f332401f26c32b942d6ac4ca1df88ffba57e407a peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:10Z sending getdata (181 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z received: inv (109 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z got inv: wtx 9a36198dda5c9cc2bacd397f12877ddd3accde0753a9fbd10b7aa2f8337ff81f new peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z got inv: wtx 58d3e4d759e837b2d89e7737b6030f98172c4f242ff3294907b39c0aa34755d8 new peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z got inv: wtx c1a52339446a62c393b6dfdacc2d3e6c1328e694d5fe130d603a70ce530d8baa new peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z Requesting wtx 9a36198dda5c9cc2bacd397f12877ddd3accde0753a9fbd10b7aa2f8337ff81f peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z Requesting wtx 58d3e4d759e837b2d89e7737b6030f98172c4f242ff3294907b39c0aa34755d8 peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z Requesting wtx c1a52339446a62c393b6dfdacc2d3e6c1328e694d5fe130d603a70ce530d8baa peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:11Z sending getdata (109 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z received: tx (191 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z received: tx (372 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z received: tx (29541 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z received: tx (192 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z received: inv (109 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z got inv: wtx 73313c96648547b86dd01fb627bb8c10ecd2b1cd6bb4c220eb537ee4f63d5cef new peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z got inv: wtx 1fccef34f358b7097c058193d858d8eaf684be35aad4a4e20e1e6b292516063c new peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z got inv: wtx a350af589e23058782a886eea5197b4bc713f417736e3a7f6d87387fc4320c7e new peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z Requesting wtx 73313c96648547b86dd01fb627bb8c10ecd2b1cd6bb4c220eb537ee4f63d5cef peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z Requesting wtx 1fccef34f358b7097c058193d858d8eaf684be35aad4a4e20e1e6b292516063c peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z Requesting wtx a350af589e23058782a886eea5197b4bc713f417736e3a7f6d87387fc4320c7e peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z sending getdata (109 bytes) peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z socket closed for peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z disconnecting peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:12Z Cleared nodestate for peer=51
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z tor: Thread interrupt
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z Shutdown: In progress...
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z RemoveLocal(trfac2534gjk6rt267kvcfm6bjil3uwi3imvae6k6xjrrrn773jtnead.onion:8333)
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z addcon thread exit
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z net thread exit
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z torcontrol thread exit
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z msghand thread exit
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z ERROR: Error while reading proxy response
2026-01-15T18:07:20Z opencon thread exit
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z Flushed 31575 addresses to peers.dat 42ms
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z DumpAnchors: Flush 0 outbound block-relay-only peer addresses to anchors.dat started
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z DumpAnchors: Flush 0 outbound block-relay-only peer addresses to anchors.dat completed (0.00s)
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z scheduler thread exit
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z Writing 0 unbroadcast transactions to disk.
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z Dumped mempool: 0.000494s to copy, 0.003009s to dump
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (2656 coins, 379kB) started
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (2656 coins, 379kB) completed (0.00s)
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (0 coins, 25kB) started
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z FlushStateToDisk: write coins cache to disk (0 coins, 25kB) completed (0.00s)
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z [default wallet] Releasing wallet
2026-01-15T18:07:21Z Shutdown: done
EDIT 2: I solved the issue by updating the server to Ubuntu 24.04 (and therefore the Tor version). No other changes were needed.
