Initial Vexta Core v0.1.0 release

CONTRIBUTING.md

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+# Contributing to Vexta Core
+
+Thank you for your interest in contributing to Vexta Core.
+
+Vexta Core is a Bitcoin Core–based blockchain focused on long-term stability, maintainability, and compatibility. Contributions that improve code quality, reliability, documentation, testing, or performance are welcome.
+
+---
+
+## Development Philosophy
+
+The project follows a simple set of principles:
+
+- Keep consensus changes to an absolute minimum.
+- Stay as close to upstream Bitcoin Core as practical.
+- Prefer simple, readable, and maintainable code.
+- Remove legacy code instead of extending it.
+- Preserve compatibility with standard Bitcoin ecosystem software whenever possible.
+
+---
+
+## Contributor Workflow
+
+1. Fork the repository.
+2. Create a feature branch.
+3. Make focused, self-contained changes.
+4. Ensure the project builds successfully.
+5. Run the available tests.
+6. Submit a pull request with a clear description.
+
+Small pull requests are strongly preferred over large ones.
+
+---
+
+## Coding Guidelines
+
+Please follow the existing Bitcoin Core coding style.
+
+When making changes:
+
+- avoid unnecessary complexity
+- keep commits focused on a single task
+- update documentation when appropriate
+- remove obsolete code instead of leaving dead paths
+- avoid introducing project-specific workarounds unless required
+
+---
+
+## Consensus Changes
+
+Consensus changes require extra care.
+
+Before proposing a consensus modification:
+
+- document the motivation
+- consider compatibility implications
+- verify the impact on wallets, pools, explorers, and nodes
+- include appropriate tests whenever practical
+
+Consensus changes should remain rare.
+
+---
+
+## Pull Requests
+
+Good pull requests generally:
+
+- solve one problem
+- build successfully
+- include clear commit messages
+- avoid unrelated formatting changes
+- keep the diff as small as practical
+
+---
+
+## Code Review
+
+Every change should be reviewed for:
+
+- correctness
+- readability
+- maintainability
+- performance
+- security
+- compatibility with upstream Bitcoin Core
+
+---
+
+## Release Process
+
+Stable releases should only be created after:
+
+- successful builds on supported platforms
+- passing test suites
+- review of consensus-related changes
+- verification of release binaries
+
+---
+
+## License
+
+By contributing to Vexta Core, you agree that your contributions will be distributed under the MIT License.