diff --git a/.github/workflows/docker-promote.yml b/.github/workflows/docker-promote.yml
index 858ea7d20e8..6c7fa3765ec 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/docker-promote.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/docker-promote.yml
@@ -14,25 +14,25 @@ jobs:
   validate:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: "${{ github.event.release.name }}"
+      RELEASE_VERSION: "${{ github.event.release.name }}"
     steps:
       - name: Pre-process Release Name
-        id: pre_process_release_name
+        id: pre_process_release_version
         run: |       
           # strip all whitespace
-          RELEASE_NAME="${RELEASE_NAME//[[:space:]]/}"
-          if [[ ! "$RELEASE_NAME" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(-.*)?$ ]]; then
+          RELEASE_VERSION="${RELEASE_VERSION//[[:space:]]/}"
+          if [[ ! "$RELEASE_VERSION" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(-.*)?$ ]]; then
             echo "Release name does not conform to a valid besu release format YY.M.v[-suffix], e.g. 24.8.0-RC1."
             exit 1
           fi
-          echo "release_name=$RELEASE_NAME" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT  # Set as output using the new syntax
+          echo "release_version=$RELEASE_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT  # Set as output using the new syntax
     outputs:
-      release_name: ${{ steps.pre_process_release_name.outputs.release_name }}
+      release_version: ${{ steps.pre_process_release_version.outputs.release_version }}
 
   docker-promote:
     needs: [validate]
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
@@ -58,24 +58,49 @@ jobs:
           cache-disabled: true
 
       - name: Docker upload
-        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" dockerUploadRelease
+        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" dockerUploadRelease
 
       - name: Docker manifest
-        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" manifestDockerRelease
+        run: ./gradlew "-Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}" "-PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}" manifestDockerRelease
 
   docker-verify:
-    needs: [validate, docker-promote]
+    needs: [validate]
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      actions: write
+      CONTAINER_NAME: besu-check
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.combination.runner }}
+    timeout-minutes: 4
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        combination:
+          - tag: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
+            platform: ''
+            runner: ubuntu-22.04
+          - tag: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}-amd64
+            platform: 'linux/amd64'
+            runner: ubuntu-22.04
+          - tag: latest
+            platform: ''
+            runner: ubuntu-22.04
+          - tag: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}-arm64
+            platform: ''
+            runner: besu-arm64
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
 
-      - name: Trigger container verify
-        run: echo '{"version":"${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}","verify-latest-version":"true"}' | gh workflow run container-verify.yml --json
+      - name: Start container
+        run: |
+          PLATFORM_OPT=""
+          [[ x${{ matrix.combination.platform }} != 'x' ]] && PLATFORM_OPT="--platform ${{ matrix.combination.platform }}"
+          docker run -d $PLATFORM_OPT --name ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }} ${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}/besu:${{ matrix.combination.tag }}
+
+      - name: Verify besu container
+        run: bash .github/workflows/BesuContainerVerify.sh
         env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          TAG: ${{ matrix.combination.tag }}
+          VERSION: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
+          CHECK_LATEST: true
+
+      - name: Stop container
+        run: docker stop ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}
diff --git a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
index f6e01e1890e..d1d414a264e 100644
--- a/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
+++ b/.github/workflows/draft-release.yml
@@ -16,7 +16,7 @@ jobs:
   validate:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: "${{ inputs.tag }}"
+      RELEASE_VERSION: "${{ inputs.tag }}"
     steps:
       - name: Check default branch
         run: |
@@ -24,36 +24,36 @@ jobs:
           echo "Default Branch: ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }}"
           if [[ ${{ github.ref_name }} != ${{ github.event.repository.default_branch }} ]]
           then
-            echo "This workflow can only be run on default branch"
+            echo "This workflow can only be run on default branch. This is not an issue for hot fixes as code is checked out from the tag"
             exit 1
           fi
-       
+
       - name: Pre-process Release Name
-        id: pre_process_release_name
+        id: validate_release_version
         run: |
           # strip all whitespace
-          RELEASE_NAME="${RELEASE_NAME//[[:space:]]/}"
-          if [[ ! "$RELEASE_NAME" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(-.*)?$ ]]; then
+          RELEASE_VERSION="${RELEASE_VERSION//[[:space:]]/}"
+          if [[ ! "$RELEASE_VERSION" =~ ^[0-9]+\.[0-9]+(\.[0-9]+)?(-.*)?$ ]]; then
             echo "Release name does not conform to a valid besu release format YY.M.v[-suffix], e.g. 24.8.0-RC1."
             exit 1
           fi
-          echo "release_name=$RELEASE_NAME" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT  # Set as output using the new syntax
-      
+          echo "release_version=$RELEASE_VERSION" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT  # Set as output using the new syntax
+
       # Perform a tag checkout to ensure tag is available
       - name: Verify tag Exist
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
-        with: 
-          ref: ${{ steps.pre_process_release_name.outputs.release_name }}
+        with:
+          ref: ${{ steps.validate_release_version.outputs.release_version }}
           fetch-depth: 1
 
     outputs:
-      release_name: ${{ steps.pre_process_release_name.outputs.release_name }}
+      release_version: ${{ steps.validate_release_version.outputs.release_version }}
 
   build:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     needs: validate
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
     outputs:
       tarSha: ${{steps.hashes.outputs.tarSha}}
       zipSha: ${{steps.hashes.outputs.zipSha}}
@@ -61,22 +61,22 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout tag
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
-      
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
+
       - name: Set up Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
         with:
           distribution: temurin
           java-version: 21
-      
+
       - name: Setup gradle
         uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@9e899d11ad247ec76be7a60bc1cf9d3abbb9e7f1
         with:
           cache-disabled: true
-      
+
       - name: Assemble release
         run:
-          ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} assemble
+          ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} assemble
 
       - name: Hashes
         id: hashes
@@ -86,35 +86,35 @@ jobs:
           echo "tarSha=$(shasum -a 256 besu*.tar.gz)"
           echo "zipSha=$(shasum -a 256 besu*.zip)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           echo "tarSha=$(shasum -a 256 besu*.tar.gz)" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
-          shasum -a 256 besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz > besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256
-          shasum -a 256 besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip > besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256
-      
+          shasum -a 256 besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.tar.gz > besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.tar.gz.sha256
+          shasum -a 256 besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.zip > besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.zip.sha256
+
       - name: Upload tarball
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
         with:
-          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz'
-          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.tar.gz'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.tar.gz
           compression-level: 0
-      
+
       - name: upload zipfile
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
         with:
-          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip'
-          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.zip'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.zip
           compression-level: 0
 
       - name: upload checksum zip
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
         with:
-          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip.sha256'
-          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.zip.sha256
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.zip.sha256'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.zip.sha256
           compression-level: 0
 
       - name: upload checksum tar.gz
         uses: actions/upload-artifact@5d5d22a31266ced268874388b861e4b58bb5c2f3
         with:
-          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz.sha256'
-          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}.tar.gz.sha256
+          path: 'build/distributions/besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.tar.gz.sha256'
+          name: besu-${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}.tar.gz.sha256
           compression-level: 0
 
   test-windows:
@@ -127,7 +127,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           distribution: temurin
           java-version: 21
-      
+
       - name: Download zip
         uses: actions/download-artifact@eaceaf801fd36c7dee90939fad912460b18a1ffe
         with:
@@ -153,7 +153,7 @@ jobs:
         with:
           distribution: temurin
           java-version: 21
-    
+
       - name: Download tar.gz
         uses: actions/download-artifact@eaceaf801fd36c7dee90939fad912460b18a1ffe
         with:
@@ -172,20 +172,20 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     needs: [test-linux, test-windows]
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: hadoLint
         run: docker run --rm -i hadolint/hadolint < docker/Dockerfile
-        
+
   docker-publish:
     needs: [validate, docker-lint]
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
     strategy:
       fail-fast: false
       matrix:
@@ -198,7 +198,7 @@ jobs:
         id: prep
         run: |
           platform=${{ matrix.platform }}
-          if [ "$platform" = 'ubuntu-22.04' ]; then 
+          if [ "$platform" = 'ubuntu-22.04' ]; then
             echo "PLATFORM_PAIR=linux-amd64" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
             echo "ARCH=amd64" >> $GITHUB_OUTPUT
           else
@@ -209,7 +209,7 @@ jobs:
       - name: Checkout Repo
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: short sha
         id: shortSha
@@ -225,7 +225,7 @@ jobs:
         uses: gradle/actions/setup-gradle@9e899d11ad247ec76be7a60bc1cf9d3abbb9e7f1
         with:
           cache-disabled: true
-          
+
       - name: install goss
         run: |
           mkdir -p docker/reports
@@ -244,23 +244,23 @@ jobs:
           architecture: ${{ steps.prep.outputs.ARCH }}
         with:
           cache-disabled: true
-          arguments: testDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+          arguments: testDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: publish
         env:
           architecture: ${{ steps.prep.outputs.ARCH }}
-        run: ./gradlew --no-daemon dockerUpload -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+        run: ./gradlew --no-daemon dockerUpload -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
   docker-manifest:
     needs: [validate, docker-publish]
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Set up Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
@@ -281,24 +281,49 @@ jobs:
           password: ${{ secrets.DOCKER_PASSWORD_RW }}
 
       - name: multi-arch docker
-        run: ./gradlew manifestDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+        run: ./gradlew manifestDocker -PdockerOrgName=${{ env.registry }}/${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
   docker-verify:
     needs: [validate,docker-manifest]
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }}  # Use the output from the pre_process_release job
-    runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
-    permissions:
-      contents: read
-      actions: write
+      CONTAINER_NAME: besu-check
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
+    runs-on: ${{ matrix.combination.runner }}
+    timeout-minutes: 4
+    strategy:
+      matrix:
+        combination:
+          - tag: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
+            platform: ''
+            runner: ubuntu-22.04
+          - tag: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}-amd64
+            platform: 'linux/amd64'
+            runner: ubuntu-22.04
+          - tag: latest
+            platform: ''
+            runner: ubuntu-22.04
+          - tag: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}-arm64
+            platform: ''
+            runner: besu-arm64
     steps:
       - name: Checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
 
-      - name: Trigger container verify
-        run: echo '{"version":"${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}","verify-latest-version":"false"}' | gh workflow run container-verify.yml --json
+      - name: Start container
+        run: |
+          PLATFORM_OPT=""
+          [[ x${{ matrix.combination.platform }} != 'x' ]] && PLATFORM_OPT="--platform ${{ matrix.combination.platform }}"
+          docker run -d $PLATFORM_OPT --name ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }} ${{ secrets.DOCKER_ORG }}/besu:${{ matrix.combination.tag }}
+
+      - name: Verify besu container
+        run: bash .github/workflows/BesuContainerVerify.sh
         env:
-          GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
+          TAG: ${{ matrix.combination.tag }}
+          VERSION: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
+          CHECK_LATEST: false
+
+      - name: Stop container
+        run: docker stop ${{ env.CONTAINER_NAME }}
 
   release-draft:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
@@ -306,42 +331,42 @@ jobs:
     permissions:
       contents: write
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }} 
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
     steps:
       - name: Checkout Repo
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Download Besu artifacts
         uses: actions/download-artifact@eaceaf801fd36c7dee90939fad912460b18a1ffe
         with:
-          pattern: besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}*
+          pattern: besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}*
           merge-multiple: true
 
       - name: Draft release notes
         run: |
-          echo "## ${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}" > draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "## ${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}" > draft-release-notes.md
           echo "## Upcoming Breaking Changes" >> draft-release-notes.md
           echo "## Breaking Changes" >> draft-release-notes.md
           echo "## Additions and Improvements" >> draft-release-notes.md
           echo "## Bug fixes" >> draft-release-notes.md
-          echo "`$(cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256)`" >> draft-release-notes.md
-          echo "`$(cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256)`" >> draft-release-notes.md
-          cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256 >> draft-release-notes.md
-          cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256 >> draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "`$(cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.zip.sha256)`" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          echo "`$(cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.tar.gz.sha256)`" >> draft-release-notes.md
+          cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.zip.sha256 >> draft-release-notes.md
+          cat besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.tar.gz.sha256 >> draft-release-notes.md
 
       - name: Draft release
         run: |
           gh release create \
             --draft \
-            --title=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} \
+            --title=${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} \
             --notes-file draft-release-notes.md \
-            --verify-tag ${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} \
-            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz \
-            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip \
-            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.zip.sha256 \
-            besu-${{env.RELEASE_NAME}}.tar.gz.sha256
+            --verify-tag ${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.tar.gz \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.zip \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.zip.sha256 \
+            besu-${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}}.tar.gz.sha256
         env:
           GH_TOKEN: ${{ github.token }}
 
@@ -349,12 +374,12 @@ jobs:
     runs-on: ubuntu-22.04
     needs: [validate, test-linux, test-windows]
     env:
-      RELEASE_NAME: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_name }} 
+      RELEASE_VERSION: ${{ needs.validate.outputs.release_version }}
     steps:
       - name: checkout
         uses: actions/checkout@b4ffde65f46336ab88eb53be808477a3936bae11
         with:
-          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }}
+          ref: ${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }}
 
       - name: Set up Java
         uses: actions/setup-java@387ac29b308b003ca37ba93a6cab5eb57c8f5f93
@@ -371,4 +396,4 @@ jobs:
         env:
           ARTIFACTORY_USER: ${{ secrets.BESU_ARTIFACTORY_USER }}
           ARTIFACTORY_KEY: ${{ secrets.BESU_ARTIFACTORY_TOKEN }}
-        run: ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_NAME }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_NAME}} artifactoryPublish
+        run: ./gradlew -Prelease.releaseVersion=${{ env.RELEASE_VERSION }} -Pversion=${{env.RELEASE_VERSION}} artifactoryPublish