verify_pubkey() now takes a ref (backport #16719)

[mergify]

This is an automatic backport of pull request #16719 done by Mergify.

Cherry-pick of 91b6888 has failed:

On branch mergify/bp/v1.6/pr-16719
Your branch is up to date with 'origin/v1.6'.

You are currently cherry-picking commit 91b6888e1.
  (fix conflicts and run "git cherry-pick --continue")
  (use "git cherry-pick --skip" to skip this patch)
  (use "git cherry-pick --abort" to cancel the cherry-pick operation)

Unmerged paths:
  (use "git add <file>..." to mark resolution)
	both modified:   core/src/rpc.rs

no changes added to commit (use "git add" and/or "git commit -a")

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[codecov]

Codecov Report

Merging #16725 (5359ac1) into v1.6 (ae605f8) will decrease coverage by 0.0%.
The diff coverage is 66.6%.

@@            Coverage Diff            @@
##             v1.6   #16725     +/-   ##
=========================================
- Coverage    82.9%    82.9%   -0.1%     
=========================================
  Files         414      414             
  Lines      113951   113953      +2     
=========================================
- Hits        94511    94506      -5     
- Misses      19440    19447      +7