diff --git a/.cirrus.yml b/.cirrus.yml
deleted file mode 100644
index 33e49c180af..00000000000
--- a/.cirrus.yml
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,199 +0,0 @@
-env:  # Global defaults
-  CIRRUS_CLONE_DEPTH: 1
-  CIRRUS_LOG_TIMESTAMP: true
-  MAKEJOBS: "-j10"
-  TEST_RUNNER_PORT_MIN: "14000"  # Must be larger than 12321, which is used for the http cache. See https://cirrus-ci.org/guide/writing-tasks/#http-cache
-  CI_FAILFAST_TEST_LEAVE_DANGLING: "1"  # Cirrus CI does not care about dangling processes and setting this variable avoids killing the CI script itself on error
-
-# A self-hosted machine(s) can be used via Cirrus CI. It can be configured with
-# multiple users to run tasks in parallel. No sudo permission is required.
-#
-# https://cirrus-ci.org/guide/persistent-workers/
-#
-# Generally, a persistent worker must run Ubuntu 23.04+ or Debian 12+.
-#
-# The following specific types should exist, with the following requirements:
-# - small: For an x86_64 machine, with at least 2 vCPUs and 8 GB of memory.
-# - medium: For an x86_64 machine, with at least 4 vCPUs and 16 GB of memory.
-# - arm64: For an aarch64 machine, with at least 2 vCPUs and 8 GB of memory.
-#
-# CI jobs for the latter configuration can be run on x86_64 hardware
-# by installing qemu-user-static, which works out of the box with
-# podman or docker. Background: https://stackoverflow.com/a/72890225/313633
-#
-# The above machine types are matched to each task by their label. Refer to the
-# Cirrus CI docs for more details.
-#
-# When a contributor maintains a fork of the repo, any pull request they make
-# to their own fork, or to the main repository, will trigger two CI runs:
-# one for the branch push and one for the pull request.
-# This can be avoided by setting SKIP_BRANCH_PUSH=true as a custom env variable
-# in Cirrus repository settings, accessible from
-# https://cirrus-ci.com/github/my-organization/my-repository
-#
-# On machines that are persisted between CI jobs, RESTART_CI_DOCKER_BEFORE_RUN=1
-# ensures that previous containers and artifacts are cleared before each run.
-# This requires installing Podman instead of Docker.
-#
-# Futhermore:
-# - podman-docker-4.1+ is required due to the bugfix in 4.1
-#   (https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/21652#issuecomment-1657098200)
-# - The ./ci/ dependencies (with cirrus-cli) should be installed. One-liner example
-#   for a single user setup with sudo permission:
-#
-#   ```
-#   apt update && apt install git screen python3 bash podman-docker uidmap slirp4netns curl -y && curl -L -o cirrus "https://github.com/cirruslabs/cirrus-cli/releases/latest/download/cirrus-linux-$(dpkg --print-architecture)" && mv cirrus /usr/local/bin/cirrus && chmod +x /usr/local/bin/cirrus
-#   ```
-#
-# - There are no strict requirements on the hardware. Having fewer CPU threads
-#   than recommended merely causes the CI script to run slower.
-#   To avoid rare and intermittent OOM due to short memory usage spikes,
-#   it is recommended to add (and persist) swap:
-#
-#   ```
-#   fallocate -l 16G /swapfile_ci && chmod 600 /swapfile_ci && mkswap /swapfile_ci && swapon /swapfile_ci && ( echo '/swapfile_ci none swap sw 0 0' | tee -a /etc/fstab )
-#   ```
-#
-# - To register the persistent worker, open a `screen` session and run:
-#
-#   ```
-#   RESTART_CI_DOCKER_BEFORE_RUN=1 screen cirrus worker run --labels type=todo_fill_in_type --token todo_fill_in_token
-#   ```
-
-# https://cirrus-ci.org/guide/tips-and-tricks/#sharing-configuration-between-tasks
-filter_template: &FILTER_TEMPLATE
-  # Allow forks to specify SKIP_BRANCH_PUSH=true and skip CI runs when a branch is pushed,
-  # but still run CI when a PR is created.
-  # https://cirrus-ci.org/guide/writing-tasks/#conditional-task-execution
-  skip: $SKIP_BRANCH_PUSH == "true" && $CIRRUS_PR == ""
-  stateful: false  # https://cirrus-ci.org/guide/writing-tasks/#stateful-tasks
-
-base_template: &BASE_TEMPLATE
-  << : *FILTER_TEMPLATE
-  merge_base_script:
-    # Require git (used in fingerprint_script).
-    - git --version || ( apt-get update && apt-get install -y git )
-    - if [ "$CIRRUS_PR" = "" ]; then exit 0; fi
-    - git fetch --depth=1 $CIRRUS_REPO_CLONE_URL "pull/${CIRRUS_PR}/merge"
-    - git checkout FETCH_HEAD  # Use merged changes to detect silent merge conflicts
-                               # Also, the merge commit is used to lint COMMIT_RANGE="HEAD~..HEAD"
-
-main_template: &MAIN_TEMPLATE
-  timeout_in: 120m  # https://cirrus-ci.org/faq/#instance-timed-out
-  ci_script:
-    - ./ci/test_run_all.sh
-
-global_task_template: &GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  << : *BASE_TEMPLATE
-  << : *MAIN_TEMPLATE
-
-compute_credits_template: &CREDITS_TEMPLATE
-  # https://cirrus-ci.org/pricing/#compute-credits
-  # Only use credits for pull requests to the main repo
-  use_compute_credits: $CIRRUS_REPO_FULL_NAME == 'bitcoin/bitcoin' && $CIRRUS_PR != ""
-
-task:
-  name: 'lint'
-  << : *BASE_TEMPLATE
-  container:
-    dockerfile: ci/lint_imagefile
-    cpu: 1
-    memory: 1G
-  # For faster CI feedback, immediately schedule the linters
-  << : *CREDITS_TEMPLATE
-  unshallow_script:
-    - git fetch --unshallow --no-tags
-  lint_script:
-    - ./ci/lint_run.sh
-
-task:
-  name: 'tidy'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: medium
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_tidy.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'ARM, unit tests, no functional tests'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: arm64  # Use arm64 worker to sidestep qemu and avoid a slow CI: https://github.com/bitcoin/bitcoin/pull/28087#issuecomment-1649399453
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_arm.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'CentOS, depends, gui'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: small
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_centos.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'previous releases, depends DEBUG'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: small
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_previous_releases.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'TSan, depends, no gui'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: medium
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_tsan.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'MSan, depends'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: small
-  timeout_in: 300m  # Use longer timeout for the *rare* case where a full build (llvm + msan + depends + ...) needs to be done.
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_msan.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'fuzzer,address,undefined,integer, no depends'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: medium
-  timeout_in: 240m  # larger timeout, due to the high CPU demand
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_fuzz.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'no IPC, i686, DEBUG'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: medium
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_i686_no_ipc.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'no wallet, libbitcoinkernel'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: small
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_nowallet_libbitcoinkernel.sh"
-
-task:
-  name: 'macOS-cross, gui, no tests'
-  << : *GLOBAL_TASK_TEMPLATE
-  persistent_worker:
-    labels:
-      type: small
-  env:
-    FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_cross.sh"
diff --git a/.github/actions/configure-docker/action.yml b/.github/actions/configure-docker/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..c78df86b6cf
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/configure-docker/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,52 @@
+name: 'Configure Docker'
+description: 'Set up Docker build driver and configure build cache args'
+inputs:
+  use-cirrus:
+    description: 'Use cirrus cache'
+    required: true
+runs:
+  using: 'composite'
+  steps:
+    - name: Set up Docker Buildx
+      uses: docker/setup-buildx-action@v3
+      with:
+        # Use host network to allow access to cirrus gha cache running on the host
+        driver-opts: |
+          network=host
+
+    # This is required to allow buildkit to access the actions cache
+    - name: Expose actions cache variables
+      uses: actions/github-script@v6
+      with:
+        script: |
+          core.exportVariable('ACTIONS_CACHE_URL', process.env['ACTIONS_CACHE_URL'])
+          core.exportVariable('ACTIONS_RUNTIME_TOKEN', process.env['ACTIONS_RUNTIME_TOKEN'])
+
+    - name: Construct docker build cache args
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        # Configure docker build cache backend
+        #
+        # On forks the gha cache will work but will use Github's cache backend.
+        # Docker will check for variables $ACTIONS_CACHE_URL, $ACTIONS_RESULTS_URL and $ACTIONS_RUNTIME_TOKEN
+        # which are set automatically when running on GitHub infra: https://docs.docker.com/build/cache/backends/gha/#synopsis
+
+        # Use cirrus cache host
+        if [[ ${{ inputs.use-cirrus }} == 'true' ]]; then
+          url_args="url=${CIRRUS_CACHE_HOST},url_v2=${CIRRUS_CACHE_HOST}"
+        else
+          url_args=""
+        fi
+
+        # Always optimistically --cache‑from in case a cache blob exists
+        args=(--cache-from "type=gha${url_args:+,${url_args}},scope=${CONTAINER_NAME}")
+
+        # If this is a push to the default branch, also add --cache‑to to save the cache
+        if [[ ${{ github.event_name }} == "push" && ${{ github.ref_name }} == ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} ]]; then
+          args+=(--cache-to "type=gha${url_args:+,${url_args}},mode=max,ignore-error=true,scope=${CONTAINER_NAME}")
+        fi
+
+        # Always `--load` into docker images (needed when using the `docker-container` build driver).
+        args+=(--load)
+
+        echo "DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_ARG=${args[*]}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
diff --git a/.github/actions/configure-environment/action.yml b/.github/actions/configure-environment/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..aae5016bdce
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/configure-environment/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,27 @@
+name: 'Configure environment'
+description: 'Configure CI, cache and container name environment variables'
+runs:
+  using: 'composite'
+  steps:
+    - name: Set CI and cache directories
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        echo "BASE_ROOT_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+        echo "BASE_BUILD_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/build" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+        echo "CCACHE_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/ccache_dir" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "DEPENDS_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/depends" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+        echo "BASE_CACHE=${{ runner.temp }}/depends/built" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "SOURCES_PATH=${{ runner.temp }}/depends/sources" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "PREVIOUS_RELEASES_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/previous_releases" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - name: Set cache hashes
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        echo "DEPENDS_HASH=$(git ls-tree HEAD depends "ci/test/$FILE_ENV" | sha256sum | cut -d' ' -f1)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "PREVIOUS_RELEASES_HASH=$(git ls-tree HEAD test/get_previous_releases.py | sha256sum | cut -d' ' -f1)" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+
+    - name: Get container name
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        source $FILE_ENV
+        echo "CONTAINER_NAME=$CONTAINER_NAME" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
diff --git a/.github/actions/restore-caches/action.yml b/.github/actions/restore-caches/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..8dc35d4902e
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/restore-caches/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,47 @@
+name: 'Restore Caches'
+description: 'Restore ccache, depends sources, and built depends caches'
+runs:
+  using: 'composite'
+  steps:
+    - name: Restore Ccache cache
+      id: ccache-cache
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/restore@v4
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
+        key: ccache-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ github.run_id }}
+        restore-keys: |
+          ccache-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-
+
+    - name: Restore depends sources cache
+      id: depends-sources
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/restore@v4
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.SOURCES_PATH }}
+        key: depends-sources-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ env.DEPENDS_HASH }}
+        restore-keys: |
+          depends-sources-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-
+
+    - name: Restore built depends cache
+      id: depends-built
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/restore@v4
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.BASE_CACHE }}
+        key: depends-built-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ env.DEPENDS_HASH }}
+        restore-keys: |
+          depends-built-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-
+
+    - name: Restore previous releases cache
+      id: previous-releases
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/restore@v4
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.PREVIOUS_RELEASES_DIR }}
+        key: previous-releases-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ env.PREVIOUS_RELEASES_HASH }}
+        restore-keys: |
+          previous-releases-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-
+
+    - name: export cache hits
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        echo "depends-sources-cache-hit=${{ steps.depends-sources.outputs.cache-hit }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "depends-built-cache-hit=${{ steps.depends-built.outputs.cache-hit }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
+        echo "previous-releases-cache-hit=${{ steps.previous-releases.outputs.cache-hit }}" >> $GITHUB_ENV
diff --git a/.github/actions/save-caches/action.yml b/.github/actions/save-caches/action.yml
new file mode 100644
index 00000000000..0e3b31246c6
--- /dev/null
+++ b/.github/actions/save-caches/action.yml
@@ -0,0 +1,39 @@
+name: 'Save Caches'
+description: 'Save ccache, depends sources, and built depends caches'
+runs:
+  using: 'composite'
+  steps:
+    - name: debug cache hit inputs
+      shell: bash
+      run: |
+        echo "depends sources direct cache hit to primary key: ${{ env.depends-sources-cache-hit }}"
+        echo "depends built direct cache hit to primary key: ${{ env.depends-built-cache-hit }}"
+        echo "previous releases direct cache hit to primary key: ${{ env.previous-releases-cache-hit }}"
+
+    - name: Save Ccache cache
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/save@v4
+      if: ${{ (github.event_name == 'push') && (github.ref_name == github.event.repository.default_branch) }}
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
+        key: ccache-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ github.run_id }}
+
+    - name: Save depends sources cache
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/save@v4
+      if: ${{ (github.event_name == 'push') && (github.ref_name == github.event.repository.default_branch) && (env.depends-sources-cache-hit != 'true') }}
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.SOURCES_PATH }}
+        key: depends-sources-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ env.DEPENDS_HASH }}
+
+    - name: Save built depends cache
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/save@v4
+      if: ${{ (github.event_name == 'push') && (github.ref_name == github.event.repository.default_branch) && (env.depends-built-cache-hit != 'true' )}}
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.BASE_CACHE }}
+        key: depends-built-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ env.DEPENDS_HASH }}
+
+    - name: Save previous releases cache
+      uses: cirruslabs/cache/save@v4
+      if: ${{ (github.event_name == 'push') && (github.ref_name == github.event.repository.default_branch) && (env.previous-releases-cache-hit != 'true' )}}
+      with:
+        path: ${{ env.PREVIOUS_RELEASES_DIR }}
+        key: previous-releases-${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}-${{ env.PREVIOUS_RELEASES_HASH }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/ci.yml b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
index 03d11536b1f..6876b8328d0 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/ci.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/ci.yml
@@ -19,7 +19,8 @@ concurrency:
 
 env:
   CI_FAILFAST_TEST_LEAVE_DANGLING: 1  # GHA does not care about dangling processes and setting this variable avoids killing the CI script itself on error
-  MAKEJOBS: '-j10'
+  CIRRUS_CACHE_HOST: http://127.0.0.1:12321/ # When using Cirrus Runners this host can be used by the docker `gha` build cache type.
+  REPO_USE_CIRRUS_RUNNERS: 'bitcoin/bitcoin' # Use cirrus runners and cache for this repo, instead of falling back to the slow GHA runners
 
 defaults:
   run:
@@ -28,6 +29,22 @@ defaults:
     shell: bash
 
 jobs:
+  runners:
+    name: 'determine runners'
+    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    outputs:
+      use-cirrus-runners: ${{ steps.runners.outputs.use-cirrus-runners }}
+    steps:
+      - id: runners
+        run: |
+          if [[ "${REPO_USE_CIRRUS_RUNNERS}" == "${{ github.repository }}" ]]; then
+            echo "use-cirrus-runners=true" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "::notice title=Runner Selection::Using Cirrus Runners"
+          else
+            echo "use-cirrus-runners=false" >> "$GITHUB_OUTPUT"
+            echo "::notice title=Runner Selection::Using GitHub-hosted runners"
+          fi
+
   test-each-commit:
     name: 'test each commit'
     runs-on: ubuntu-24.04
@@ -284,7 +301,8 @@ jobs:
 
   windows-cross:
     name: 'Linux->Windows cross, no tests'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-latest
+    needs: runners
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.runners.outputs.use-cirrus-runners == 'true' && 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-md' || 'ubuntu-24.04' }}
     if: ${{ vars.SKIP_BRANCH_PUSH != 'true' || github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
 
     env:
@@ -295,36 +313,23 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v5
 
-      - name: Set CI directories
-        run: |
-          echo "CCACHE_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/ccache_dir" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "BASE_ROOT_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "DEPENDS_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/depends" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "BASE_BUILD_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/build" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+      - name: Configure environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/configure-environment
 
-      - name: Depends cache
-        uses: actions/cache@v4
-        with:
-          path: ${{ env.DEPENDS_DIR }}/built
-          key: ${{ github.job }}-depends-${{ hashFiles('depends/**', 'ci/test/00_setup_env_win64.sh') }}
+      - name: Restore caches
+        id: restore-cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/restore-caches
 
-      - name: Restore Ccache cache
-        id: ccache-cache
-        uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+      - name: Configure Docker
+        uses: ./.github/actions/configure-docker
         with:
-          path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
-          key: ${{ github.job }}-ccache-${{ github.run_id }}
-          restore-keys: ${{ github.job }}-ccache-
+          use-cirrus: ${{ needs.runners.outputs.use-cirrus-runners }}
 
       - name: CI script
         run: ./ci/test_run_all.sh
 
-      - name: Save Ccache cache
-        uses: actions/cache/save@v4
-        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' && steps.ccache-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
-        with:
-          path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
-          key: ${{ github.job }}-ccache-${{ github.run_id }}
+      - name: Save caches
+        uses: ./.github/actions/save-caches
 
       - name: Upload built executables
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@v4
@@ -406,44 +411,145 @@ jobs:
           TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA: ${{ github.event_name != 'pull_request' && '--extended' || '' }}
         run: py -3 test/functional/test_runner.py --jobs $NUMBER_OF_PROCESSORS --ci --quiet --tmpdirprefix="$RUNNER_TEMP" --combinedlogslen=99999999 --timeout-factor=$TEST_RUNNER_TIMEOUT_FACTOR $EXCLUDE $TEST_RUNNER_EXTRA
 
-  asan-lsan-ubsan-integer-no-depends-usdt:
-    name: 'ASan + LSan + UBSan + integer, no depends, USDT'
-    runs-on: ubuntu-24.04 # has to match container in ci/test/00_setup_env_native_asan.sh for tracing tools
+  ci-matrix:
+    name: ${{ matrix.name }}
+    needs: runners
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.runners.outputs.use-cirrus-runners == 'true' && matrix.cirrus-runner || matrix.fallback-runner }}
     if: ${{ vars.SKIP_BRANCH_PUSH != 'true' || github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
-    timeout-minutes: 120
+    timeout-minutes: ${{ matrix.timeout-minutes }}
+
     env:
-      FILE_ENV: "./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_asan.sh"
       DANGER_CI_ON_HOST_FOLDERS: 1
+      FILE_ENV: ${{ matrix.file-env }}
+
+    strategy:
+      fail-fast: false
+      matrix:
+        include:
+          - name: '32 bit ARM, unit tests, no functional tests'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm' # Cirrus' Arm runners are Apple (with virtual Linux aarch64), which doesn't support 32-bit mode
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04-arm'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_arm.sh'
+
+          - name: 'ASan + LSan + UBSan + integer, no depends, USDT'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-lg' # has to match container in ci/test/00_setup_env_native_asan.sh for tracing tools
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_asan.sh'
+
+          - name: 'macOS-cross, gui, no tests'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-sm'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_cross.sh'
+
+          - name: 'No wallet, libbitcoinkernel'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-md'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_nowallet_libbitcoinkernel.sh'
+
+          - name: 'no IPC, i686, DEBUG'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-md'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_i686_no_ipc.sh'
+
+          - name: 'fuzzer,address,undefined,integer, no depends'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-lg'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 240
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_fuzz.sh'
+
+          - name: 'previous releases, depends DEBUG'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-md'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_previous_releases.sh'
+
+          - name: 'CentOS, depends, gui'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-lg'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_centos.sh'
+
+          - name: 'tidy'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-md'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_tidy.sh'
+
+          - name: 'TSan, depends, no gui'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-lg'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_tsan.sh'
+
+          - name: 'MSan, depends'
+            cirrus-runner: 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-lg'
+            fallback-runner: 'ubuntu-24.04'
+            timeout-minutes: 120
+            file-env: './ci/test/00_setup_env_native_msan.sh'
+
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@v5
 
-      - name: Set CI directories
-        run: |
-          echo "CCACHE_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/ccache_dir" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "BASE_ROOT_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
-          echo "BASE_BUILD_DIR=${{ runner.temp }}/build-asan" >> "$GITHUB_ENV"
+      - name: Configure environment
+        uses: ./.github/actions/configure-environment
 
-      - name: Restore Ccache cache
-        id: ccache-cache
-        uses: actions/cache/restore@v4
+      - name: Restore caches
+        id: restore-cache
+        uses: ./.github/actions/restore-caches
+
+      - name: Configure Docker
+        uses: ./.github/actions/configure-docker
         with:
-          path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
-          key: ${{ github.job }}-ccache-${{ github.run_id }}
-          restore-keys: ${{ github.job }}-ccache-
+          use-cirrus: ${{ needs.runners.outputs.use-cirrus-runners }}
 
       - name: Enable bpfcc script
+        if: ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME == 'ci_native_asan' }}
         # In the image build step, no external environment variables are available,
         # so any settings will need to be written to the settings env file:
         run: sed -i "s|\${INSTALL_BCC_TRACING_TOOLS}|true|g" ./ci/test/00_setup_env_native_asan.sh
 
+      - name: Set mmap_rnd_bits
+        if: ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME == 'ci_native_tsan' || env.CONTAINER_NAME == 'ci_native_msan' }}
+        # Prevents crashes due to high ASLR entropy
+        run: sudo sysctl -w vm.mmap_rnd_bits=28
+
       - name: CI script
         run: ./ci/test_run_all.sh
 
-      - name: Save Ccache cache
-        uses: actions/cache/save@v4
-        if: github.event_name != 'pull_request' && steps.ccache-cache.outputs.cache-hit != 'true'
+      - name: Save caches
+        uses: ./.github/actions/save-caches
+
+  lint:
+    name: 'lint'
+    needs: runners
+    runs-on: ${{ needs.runners.outputs.use-cirrus-runners == 'true' && 'ghcr.io/cirruslabs/ubuntu-runner-amd64:24.04-sm' || 'ubuntu-24.04' }}
+    if: ${{ vars.SKIP_BRANCH_PUSH != 'true' || github.event_name == 'pull_request' }}
+    timeout-minutes: 20
+    env:
+      CONTAINER_NAME: "bitcoin-linter"
+    steps:
+      - name: Checkout
+        uses: actions/checkout@v5
         with:
-          path: ${{ env.CCACHE_DIR }}
-          # https://github.com/actions/cache/blob/main/tips-and-workarounds.md#update-a-cache
-          key: ${{ github.job }}-ccache-${{ github.run_id }}
+          fetch-depth: 0
+
+      - name: Configure Docker
+        uses: ./.github/actions/configure-docker
+        with:
+          use-cirrus: ${{ needs.runners.outputs.use-cirrus-runners }}
+
+      - name: CI script
+        run: |
+          set -o xtrace
+          docker buildx build -t "$CONTAINER_NAME" $DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_ARG --file "./ci/lint_imagefile" .
+          CIRRUS_PR_FLAG=""
+          if [ "${{ github.event_name }}" = "pull_request" ]; then
+            CIRRUS_PR_FLAG="-e CIRRUS_PR=1"
+          fi
+          docker run --rm $CIRRUS_PR_FLAG -v "$(pwd)":/bitcoin "$CONTAINER_NAME"
diff --git a/ci/README.md b/ci/README.md
index 377aae7fa0b..81e048ce687 100644
--- a/ci/README.md
+++ b/ci/README.md
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
-## CI Scripts
+# CI Scripts
 
 This directory contains scripts for each build step in each build stage.
 
-### Running a Stage Locally
+## Running a Stage Locally
 
 Be aware that the tests will be built and run in-place, so please run at your own risk.
 If the repository is not a fresh git clone, you might have to clean files from previous builds or test runs first.
@@ -27,7 +27,7 @@ with a specific configuration,
 env -i HOME="$HOME" PATH="$PATH" USER="$USER" bash -c 'FILE_ENV="./ci/test/00_setup_env_arm.sh" ./ci/test_run_all.sh'
 ```
 
-### Configurations
+## Configurations
 
 The test files (`FILE_ENV`) are constructed to test a wide range of
 configurations, rather than a single pass/fail. This helps to catch build
@@ -49,8 +49,32 @@ env -i HOME="$HOME" PATH="$PATH" USER="$USER" bash -c 'MAKEJOBS="-j1" FILE_ENV="
 The files starting with `0n` (`n` greater than 0) are the scripts that are run
 in order.
 
-### Cache
+## Cache
 
 In order to avoid rebuilding all dependencies for each build, the binaries are
 cached and reused when possible. Changes in the dependency-generator will
 trigger cache-invalidation and rebuilds as necessary.
+
+## Configuring a repository for CI
+
+### Primary repository
+
+To configure the primary repository, follow these steps:
+
+1. Register with [Cirrus Runners](https://cirrus-runners.app/) and purchase runners.
+2. Install the Cirrus Runners GitHub app against the GitHub organization.
+3. Enable organisation-level runners to be used in public repositories:
+   1. `Org settings -> Actions -> Runner Groups -> Default -> Allow public repos`
+4. Permit the following actions to run:
+   1. cirruslabs/cache/restore@\*
+   1. cirruslabs/cache/save@\*
+   1. docker/setup-buildx-action@\*
+   1. actions/github-script@\*
+
+### Forked repositories
+
+When used in a fork the CI will run on GitHub's free hosted runners by default.
+In this case, due to GitHub's 10GB-per-repo cache size limitations caches will be frequently evicted and missed, but the workflows will run (slowly).
+
+It is also possible to use your own Cirrus Runners in your own fork with an appropriate patch to the `REPO_USE_CIRRUS_RUNNERS` variable in ../.github/workflows/ci.yml
+NB that Cirrus Runners only work at an organisation level, therefore in order to use your own Cirrus Runners, *the fork must be within your own organisation*.
diff --git a/ci/lint_run.sh b/ci/lint_run.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 6327c3c4561..00000000000
--- a/ci/lint_run.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,12 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-#
-# Copyright (c) The Bitcoin Core developers
-# Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
-# file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
-
-export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
-set -o errexit -o pipefail -o xtrace
-
-# Only used in .cirrus.yml. Refer to test/lint/README.md on how to run locally.
-export PATH="/python_build/bin:${PATH}"
-./ci/lint/06_script.sh
diff --git a/ci/lint_run_all.sh b/ci/lint_run_all.sh
deleted file mode 100755
index 427e24e17fb..00000000000
--- a/ci/lint_run_all.sh
+++ /dev/null
@@ -1,18 +0,0 @@
-#!/usr/bin/env bash
-#
-# Copyright (c) 2019-present The Bitcoin Core developers
-# Distributed under the MIT software license, see the accompanying
-# file COPYING or http://www.opensource.org/licenses/mit-license.php.
-
-export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
-
-# Only used in .cirrus.yml for stale re-runs of old pull request tasks. This
-# file can be removed in September 2025.
-
-cp "./ci/retry/retry" "/ci_retry"
-cp "./.python-version" "/.python-version"
-mkdir --parents "/test/lint"
-cp --recursive "./test/lint/test_runner" "/test/lint/"
-set -o errexit; source ./ci/lint/01_install.sh
-set -o errexit
-./ci/lint/06_script.sh
diff --git a/ci/test/00_setup_env.sh b/ci/test/00_setup_env.sh
index cf8fbb006f5..a4293fb8057 100755
--- a/ci/test/00_setup_env.sh
+++ b/ci/test/00_setup_env.sh
@@ -35,7 +35,7 @@ fi
 
 echo "Fallback to default values in env (if not yet set)"
 # The number of parallel jobs to pass down to make and test_runner.py
-export MAKEJOBS=${MAKEJOBS:--j4}
+export MAKEJOBS=${MAKEJOBS:--j$(if command -v nproc > /dev/null 2>&1; then nproc; else sysctl -n hw.logicalcpu; fi)}
 # Whether to prefer BusyBox over GNU utilities
 export USE_BUSY_BOX=${USE_BUSY_BOX:-false}
 
diff --git a/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native.sh b/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native.sh
index 0cba3751d76..41a3bc45877 100755
--- a/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native.sh
+++ b/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native.sh
@@ -8,6 +8,7 @@ export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
 
 # Homebrew's python@3.12 is marked as externally managed (PEP 668).
 # Therefore, `--break-system-packages` is needed.
+export CONTAINER_NAME="ci_mac_native"  # macos does not use a container, but the env var is needed for logging
 export PIP_PACKAGES="--break-system-packages zmq"
 export GOAL="install deploy"
 export CMAKE_GENERATOR="Ninja"
diff --git a/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native_fuzz.sh b/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native_fuzz.sh
index d8a61fbac73..a8010c7aecd 100755
--- a/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native_fuzz.sh
+++ b/ci/test/00_setup_env_mac_native_fuzz.sh
@@ -6,6 +6,7 @@
 
 export LC_ALL=C.UTF-8
 
+export CONTAINER_NAME="ci_mac_native_fuzz"  # macos does not use a container, but the env var is needed for logging
 export CMAKE_GENERATOR="Ninja"
 export BITCOIN_CONFIG="-DBUILD_FOR_FUZZING=ON -DCMAKE_EXE_LINKER_FLAGS='-Wl,-stack_size -Wl,0x80000'"
 export CI_OS_NAME="macos"
diff --git a/ci/test/02_run_container.sh b/ci/test/02_run_container.sh
index 119ab2e89c4..e91f87534dd 100755
--- a/ci/test/02_run_container.sh
+++ b/ci/test/02_run_container.sh
@@ -19,34 +19,14 @@ if [ -z "$DANGER_RUN_CI_ON_HOST" ]; then
   fi
   echo "Creating $CI_IMAGE_NAME_TAG container to run in"
 
-  DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_ARG=""
-  DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_TEMPDIR=""
-  DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_OLD_DIR=""
-  DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_NEW_DIR=""
-  # If set, use an `docker build` cache directory on the CI host
-  # to cache docker image layers for the CI container image.
-  # This cache can be multiple GB in size. Prefixed with DANGER
-  # as setting it removes (old cache) files from the host.
-  if [ "$DANGER_DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_HOST_DIR" ]; then
-    # Directory where the current cache for this run could be. If not existing
-    # or empty, "docker build" will warn, but treat it as cache-miss and continue.
-    DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_OLD_DIR="${DANGER_DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_HOST_DIR}/${CONTAINER_NAME}"
-    # Temporary directory for a newly created cache. We can't write the new
-    # cache into OLD_DIR directly, as old cache layers would not be removed.
-    # The NEW_DIR contents are moved to OLD_DIR after OLD_DIR has been cleared.
-    # This happens after `docker build`. If a task fails or is aborted, the
-    # DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_TEMPDIR might be retained on the host. If the host isn't
-    # ephemeral, it has to take care of cleaning old TEMPDIR's up.
-    DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_TEMPDIR="$(mktemp --directory ci-docker-build-cache-XXXXXXXXXX)"
-    DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_NEW_DIR="${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_TEMPDIR}/${CONTAINER_NAME}"
-    DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_ARG="--cache-from type=local,src=${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_OLD_DIR} --cache-to type=local,dest=${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_NEW_DIR},mode=max"
-  fi
-
+  # Use buildx unconditionally
+  # Using buildx is required to properly load the correct driver, for use with registry caching. Neither build, nor BUILDKIT=1 currently do this properly
   # shellcheck disable=SC2086
-  DOCKER_BUILDKIT=1 docker build \
+  docker buildx build \
       --file "${BASE_READ_ONLY_DIR}/ci/test_imagefile" \
       --build-arg "CI_IMAGE_NAME_TAG=${CI_IMAGE_NAME_TAG}" \
       --build-arg "FILE_ENV=${FILE_ENV}" \
+      --build-arg "BASE_ROOT_DIR=${BASE_ROOT_DIR}" \
       $MAYBE_CPUSET \
       --platform="${CI_IMAGE_PLATFORM}" \
       --label="${CI_IMAGE_LABEL}" \
@@ -54,15 +34,6 @@ if [ -z "$DANGER_RUN_CI_ON_HOST" ]; then
       $DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_ARG \
       "${BASE_READ_ONLY_DIR}"
 
-  if [ "$DANGER_DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_HOST_DIR" ]; then
-    if [ -e "${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_NEW_DIR}/index.json" ]; then
-      echo "Removing the existing docker build cache in ${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_OLD_DIR}"
-      rm -rf "${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_OLD_DIR}"
-      echo "Moving the contents of ${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_NEW_DIR} to ${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_OLD_DIR}"
-      mv "${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_NEW_DIR}" "${DOCKER_BUILD_CACHE_OLD_DIR}"
-    fi
-  fi
-
   docker volume create "${CONTAINER_NAME}_ccache" || true
   docker volume create "${CONTAINER_NAME}_depends" || true
   docker volume create "${CONTAINER_NAME}_depends_sources" || true
diff --git a/ci/test/03_test_script.sh b/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
index a0676c6acd4..a5248b8d8e9 100755
--- a/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
+++ b/ci/test/03_test_script.sh
@@ -24,6 +24,14 @@ fi
 echo "Free disk space:"
 df -h
 
+# We force an install of linux-headers again here via $PACKAGES to fix any
+# kernel mismatch between a cached docker image and the underlying host.
+# This can happen occasionally on hosted runners if the runner image is updated.
+if [[ "$CONTAINER_NAME" == "ci_native_asan" ]]; then
+  $CI_RETRY_EXE apt-get update
+  ${CI_RETRY_EXE} bash -c "apt-get install --no-install-recommends --no-upgrade -y $PACKAGES"
+fi
+
 # What host to compile for. See also ./depends/README.md
 # Tests that need cross-compilation export the appropriate HOST.
 # Tests that run natively guess the host
@@ -137,6 +145,12 @@ cmake --build "${BASE_BUILD_DIR}" "$MAKEJOBS" --target all $GOAL || (
 )
 
 bash -c "${PRINT_CCACHE_STATISTICS}"
+if [ "$CI" = "true" ]; then
+  hit_rate=$(ccache -s | grep "Hits:" | head -1 | sed 's/.*(\(.*\)%).*/\1/')
+  if [ "${hit_rate%.*}" -lt 75 ]; then
+      echo "::notice title=low ccache hitrate::Ccache hit-rate in $CONTAINER_NAME was $hit_rate%"
+  fi
+fi
 du -sh "${DEPENDS_DIR}"/*/
 du -sh "${PREVIOUS_RELEASES_DIR}"
 
diff --git a/ci/test_imagefile b/ci/test_imagefile
index f8b5eea1c88..f9cf3187a25 100644
--- a/ci/test_imagefile
+++ b/ci/test_imagefile
@@ -4,12 +4,16 @@
 
 # See ci/README.md for usage.
 
-ARG CI_IMAGE_NAME_TAG
+# We never want scratch, but default arg silences a Warning
+ARG CI_IMAGE_NAME_TAG=scratch
 FROM ${CI_IMAGE_NAME_TAG}
 
 ARG FILE_ENV
 ENV FILE_ENV=${FILE_ENV}
 
+ARG BASE_ROOT_DIR
+ENV BASE_ROOT_DIR=${BASE_ROOT_DIR}
+
 COPY ./ci/retry/retry /usr/bin/retry
 COPY ./ci/test/00_setup_env.sh ./${FILE_ENV} ./ci/test/01_base_install.sh /ci_container_base/ci/test/