Regtest not paying address in mined block

Question

I have set up a local 5 node bitcoind regtest network with unique ports using compiled bitcoin core 14.2. I can generate blocks, send transactions between nodes, and mine those transactions using a python miner that I constructed. However, the payout for mining always goes to the node that I last generated 101 blocks and not to the address in the minded block for the node I am using to mine. I have verified that the correct address is included in the mined block and have started to look at the bitcoid code to see what might be happening on that side of the equation. When I spin up the 5 nodes I am using the same binary but with different command line config params.

I am new to bitcoin and have been doing this for the past two months to learn how it works. I've tried researching this problem and so far nothing has turned up and I will continue to debug the miner and core. In the meantime, I would greatly appreciate if anyone has any suggestions about what could be going on and how to address it.

Thanks, :D

Answer 1

Newly generated coins cannot be spent until 100 blocks have been mined on top of the block creating those coins. This requirement means that it will seem like the address from 101 blocks ago was paid, but rather it is just that the coins mined 101 blocks ago are now spendable.