validation: remove ConnectTrace wrapper class

diff --git a/src/validation.cpp b/src/validation.cpp
index b462b7f0..83c16867 100644
--- a/src/validation.cpp
+++ b/src/validation.cpp
@@ -2987,42 +2987,22 @@ bool Chainstate::DisconnectTip(BlockValidationState& state, DisconnectedBlockTra
     return true;
 }
 
-struct PerBlockConnectTrace {
-    CBlockIndex* pindex = nullptr;
+struct ConnectedBlock {
+    const CBlockIndex* pindex;
     std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> pblock;
 };
-/**
- * Used to track blocks whose transactions were applied to the UTXO state as a
- * part of a single ActivateBestChainStep call.
- */
-class ConnectTrace {
-private:
-    std::vector<PerBlockConnectTrace> blocksConnected;
-
-public:
-    void BlockConnected(CBlockIndex* pindex, std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> pblock) {
-        assert(pindex);
-        assert(pblock);
-        blocksConnected.emplace_back(pindex, std::move(pblock));
-    }
-
-    const std::vector<PerBlockConnectTrace>& GetBlocksConnected() const
-    {
-        return blocksConnected;
-    }
-};
 
 /**
  * Connect a new block to m_chain. block_to_connect is either nullptr or a pointer to a CBlock
  * corresponding to pindexNew, to bypass loading it again from disk.
  *
- * The block is added to connectTrace if connection succeeds.
+ * The block is added to connected_blocks if connection succeeds.
  */
 bool Chainstate::ConnectTip(
     BlockValidationState& state,
     CBlockIndex* pindexNew,
     std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> block_to_connect,
-    ConnectTrace& connectTrace,
+    std::vector<ConnectedBlock>& connected_blocks,
     DisconnectedBlockTransactions& disconnectpool)
 {
     AssertLockHeld(cs_main);
@@ -3119,7 +3099,7 @@ bool Chainstate::ConnectTip(
     Chainstate& current_cs{m_chainman.CurrentChainstate()};
     m_chainman.MaybeValidateSnapshot(*this, current_cs);
 
-    connectTrace.BlockConnected(pindexNew, std::move(block_to_connect));
+    connected_blocks.emplace_back(pindexNew, std::move(block_to_connect));
     return true;
 }
 
@@ -3204,7 +3184,7 @@ void Chainstate::PruneBlockIndexCandidates() {
  *
  * @returns true unless a system error occurred
  */
-bool Chainstate::ActivateBestChainStep(BlockValidationState& state, CBlockIndex* pindexMostWork, const std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>& pblock, bool& fInvalidFound, ConnectTrace& connectTrace)
+bool Chainstate::ActivateBestChainStep(BlockValidationState& state, CBlockIndex* pindexMostWork, const std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>& pblock, bool& fInvalidFound, std::vector<ConnectedBlock>& connected_blocks)
 {
     AssertLockHeld(cs_main);
     if (m_mempool) AssertLockHeld(m_mempool->cs);
@@ -3249,7 +3229,7 @@ bool Chainstate::ActivateBestChainStep(BlockValidationState& state, CBlockIndex*
 
         // Connect new blocks.
         for (CBlockIndex* pindexConnect : vpindexToConnect | std::views::reverse) {
-            if (!ConnectTip(state, pindexConnect, pindexConnect == pindexMostWork ? pblock : std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>(), connectTrace, disconnectpool)) {
+            if (!ConnectTip(state, pindexConnect, pindexConnect == pindexMostWork ? pblock : std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>(), connected_blocks, disconnectpool)) {
                 if (state.IsInvalid()) {
                     // The block violates a consensus rule.
                     if (state.GetResult() != BlockValidationResult::BLOCK_MUTATED) {
@@ -3374,7 +3354,7 @@ bool Chainstate::ActivateBestChain(BlockValidationState& state, std::shared_ptr<
         {
             LOCK(cs_main);
             {
-            // Lock transaction pool for at least as long as it takes for connectTrace to be consumed
+            // Lock transaction pool for at least as long as it takes for connected_blocks to be consumed
             LOCK(MempoolMutex());
             const bool was_in_ibd = m_chainman.IsInitialBlockDownload();
             CBlockIndex* starting_tip = m_chain.Tip();
@@ -3382,7 +3362,7 @@ bool Chainstate::ActivateBestChain(BlockValidationState& state, std::shared_ptr<
             do {
                 // We absolutely may not unlock cs_main until we've made forward progress
                 // (with the exception of shutdown due to hardware issues, low disk space, etc).
-                ConnectTrace connectTrace; // Destructed before cs_main is unlocked
+                std::vector<ConnectedBlock> connected_blocks; // Destructed before cs_main is unlocked
 
                 if (pindexMostWork == nullptr) {
                     pindexMostWork = FindMostWorkChain();
@@ -3399,7 +3379,7 @@ bool Chainstate::ActivateBestChain(BlockValidationState& state, std::shared_ptr<
                 // in case snapshot validation is completed during ActivateBestChainStep, the
                 // result of GetRole() changes from BACKGROUND to NORMAL.
                const ChainstateRole chainstate_role{this->GetRole()};
-                if (!ActivateBestChainStep(state, pindexMostWork, pblock && pblock->GetHash() == pindexMostWork->GetBlockHash() ? pblock : nullBlockPtr, fInvalidFound, connectTrace)) {
+                if (!ActivateBestChainStep(state, pindexMostWork, pblock && pblock->GetHash() == pindexMostWork->GetBlockHash() ? pblock : nullBlockPtr, fInvalidFound, connected_blocks)) {
                     // A system error occurred
                     return false;
                 }
@@ -3411,10 +3391,9 @@ bool Chainstate::ActivateBestChain(BlockValidationState& state, std::shared_ptr<
                 }
                 pindexNewTip = m_chain.Tip();
 
-                for (const PerBlockConnectTrace& trace : connectTrace.GetBlocksConnected()) {
-                    assert(trace.pblock && trace.pindex);
+                for (const auto& [index, block] : connected_blocks) {
                     if (m_chainman.m_options.signals) {
-                        m_chainman.m_options.signals->BlockConnected(chainstate_role, trace.pblock, trace.pindex);
+                        m_chainman.m_options.signals->BlockConnected(chainstate_role, Assert(block), Assert(index));
                     }
                 }
 
diff --git a/src/validation.h b/src/validation.h
index 482772c0..d65d61ce 100644
--- a/src/validation.h
+++ b/src/validation.h
@@ -455,7 +455,7 @@ enum DisconnectResult
     DISCONNECT_FAILED   // Something else went wrong.
 };
 
-class ConnectTrace;
+struct ConnectedBlock;
 
 /** @see Chainstate::FlushStateToDisk */
 inline constexpr std::array FlushStateModeNames{"NONE", "IF_NEEDED", "PERIODIC", "FORCE_FLUSH", "FORCE_SYNC"};
@@ -847,12 +847,12 @@ public:
     std::pair<int, int> GetPruneRange(int last_height_can_prune) const EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(::cs_main);
 
 protected:
-    bool ActivateBestChainStep(BlockValidationState& state, CBlockIndex* pindexMostWork, const std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>& pblock, bool& fInvalidFound, ConnectTrace& connectTrace) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(cs_main, m_mempool->cs);
+    bool ActivateBestChainStep(BlockValidationState& state, CBlockIndex* pindexMostWork, const std::shared_ptr<const CBlock>& pblock, bool& fInvalidFound, std::vector<ConnectedBlock>& connected_blocks) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(cs_main, m_mempool->cs);
     bool ConnectTip(
         BlockValidationState& state,
         CBlockIndex* pindexNew,
         std::shared_ptr<const CBlock> block_to_connect,
-        ConnectTrace& connectTrace,
+        std::vector<ConnectedBlock>& connected_blocks,
         DisconnectedBlockTransactions& disconnectpool) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(cs_main, m_mempool->cs);
 
     void InvalidBlockFound(CBlockIndex* pindex, const BlockValidationState& state) EXCLUSIVE_LOCKS_REQUIRED(cs_main);