diff --git a/pom.xml b/pom.xml
index 6dae45b38..8ab4c6ce4 100644
--- a/pom.xml
+++ b/pom.xml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@
 		<ciyam-at.version>1.4.2</ciyam-at.version>
 		<commons-net.version>3.8.0</commons-net.version>
 		<commons-text.version>1.12.0</commons-text.version>
-		<commons-io.version>2.17.0</commons-io.version>
+		<commons-io.version>2.18.0</commons-io.version>
 		<commons-compress.version>1.27.1</commons-compress.version>
 		<commons-lang3.version>3.17.0</commons-lang3.version>
 		<dagger.version>1.2.2</dagger.version>
@@ -28,7 +28,7 @@
 		<homoglyph.version>1.2.1</homoglyph.version>
 		<hsqldb.version>2.7.4</hsqldb.version>
 		<icu4j.version>76.1</icu4j.version>
-		<java-diff-utils.version>4.12</java-diff-utils.version>
+		<java-diff-utils.version>4.15</java-diff-utils.version>
 		<javax.servlet-api.version>4.0.1</javax.servlet-api.version>
 		<jaxb-runtime.version>2.3.9</jaxb-runtime.version>
 		<jersey.version>2.42</jersey.version>
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/qortal/block/Block.java b/src/main/java/org/qortal/block/Block.java
index 086b3fc84..918a20ae9 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/qortal/block/Block.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/qortal/block/Block.java
@@ -145,6 +145,8 @@ public static class ExpandedAccount {
 
 		private final Account recipientAccount;
 		private final AccountData recipientAccountData;
+		
+		final BlockChain blockChain = BlockChain.getInstance();
 
 		ExpandedAccount(Repository repository, RewardShareData rewardShareData) throws DataException {
 			this.rewardShareData = rewardShareData;
@@ -191,13 +193,12 @@ public AccountLevelShareBin getShareBin(int blockHeight) {
 			if (accountLevel <= 0)
 				return null; // level 0 isn't included in any share bins
 
-			if (blockHeight >= BlockChain.getInstance().getFixBatchRewardHeight()) {
+			if (blockHeight >= blockChain.getFixBatchRewardHeight()) {
 				if (!this.isMinterMember)
 					return null; // not member of minter group isn't included in any share bins
 			}
 
 			// Select the correct set of share bins based on block height
-			final BlockChain blockChain = BlockChain.getInstance();
 			final AccountLevelShareBin[] shareBinsByLevel = (blockHeight >= blockChain.getSharesByLevelV2Height()) ?
 					blockChain.getShareBinsByAccountLevelV2() : blockChain.getShareBinsByAccountLevelV1();
 
diff --git a/src/main/java/org/qortal/network/task/PeerConnectTask.java b/src/main/java/org/qortal/network/task/PeerConnectTask.java
index 7eec4e6b6..3ae1b6409 100644
--- a/src/main/java/org/qortal/network/task/PeerConnectTask.java
+++ b/src/main/java/org/qortal/network/task/PeerConnectTask.java
@@ -4,10 +4,15 @@
 import org.apache.logging.log4j.Logger;
 import org.qortal.network.Network;
 import org.qortal.network.Peer;
+import org.qortal.utils.DaemonThreadFactory;
 import org.qortal.utils.ExecuteProduceConsume.Task;
 
+import java.util.concurrent.ExecutorService;
+import java.util.concurrent.Executors;
+
 public class PeerConnectTask implements Task {
     private static final Logger LOGGER = LogManager.getLogger(PeerConnectTask.class);
+    private static final ExecutorService connectionExecutor = Executors.newCachedThreadPool(new DaemonThreadFactory(8));
 
     private final Peer peer;
     private final String name;
@@ -24,6 +29,24 @@ public String getName() {
 
     @Override
     public void perform() throws InterruptedException {
-        Network.getInstance().connectPeer(peer);
+        // Submit connection task to a dedicated thread pool for non-blocking I/O
+        connectionExecutor.submit(() -> {
+            try {
+                connectPeerAsync(peer);
+            } catch (InterruptedException e) {
+                LOGGER.error("Connection attempt interrupted for peer {}", peer, e);
+                Thread.currentThread().interrupt();  // Reset interrupt flag
+            }
+        });
+    }
+
+    private void connectPeerAsync(Peer peer) throws InterruptedException {
+        // Perform peer connection in a separate thread to avoid blocking main task execution
+        try {
+            Network.getInstance().connectPeer(peer);
+            LOGGER.trace("Successfully connected to peer {}", peer);
+        } catch (Exception e) {
+            LOGGER.error("Error connecting to peer {}", peer, e);
+        }
     }
 }