diff --git a/.circleci/config.yml b/.circleci/config.yml
index 7345fe18dc74e7..403311fdf94e42 100644
--- a/.circleci/config.yml
+++ b/.circleci/config.yml
@@ -51,8 +51,8 @@ references:
   # -------------------------
   dependency_versions:
     xcode_version: &xcode_version "14.0.1"
-    nodelts_image: &nodelts_image "cimg/node:16.14"
-    nodeprevlts_image: &nodeprevlts_image "cimg/node:14.19"
+    nodelts_image: &nodelts_image "cimg/node:18.12.1"
+    nodeprevlts_image: &nodeprevlts_image "cimg/node:16.18.1"
 
   # -------------------------
   #        Cache Key Anchors
@@ -612,7 +612,7 @@ jobs:
       - run:
           name: Configure Environment Variables
           command: |
-            echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/opt/node@16/bin:$PATH' >> $BASH_ENV
+            echo 'export PATH=/usr/local/opt/node@18/bin:$PATH' >> $BASH_ENV
             source $BASH_ENV
 
       - run:
@@ -1496,10 +1496,6 @@ jobs:
               - equal: [ "nightly", << parameters.release_type >> ]
           steps:
             - run: echo "//registry.npmjs.org/:_authToken=${CIRCLE_NPM_TOKEN}" > ~/.npmrc
-            - run: |
-                git config --global user.email "react-native-bot@users.noreply.github.com"
-                git config --global user.name "npm Deployment Script"
-                echo "machine github.com login react-native-bot password $GITHUB_TOKEN" > ~/.netrc
       # END: Stables and nightlies
 
       - run: node ./scripts/publish-npm.js --<< parameters.release_type >>
diff --git a/.node-version b/.node-version
index b6a7d89c68e0ca..3c032078a4a21c 100644
--- a/.node-version
+++ b/.node-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-16
+18
diff --git a/scripts/setup-verdaccio.js b/scripts/setup-verdaccio.js
index 3dc32a261dbe60..26e8559e74eb40 100644
--- a/scripts/setup-verdaccio.js
+++ b/scripts/setup-verdaccio.js
@@ -28,6 +28,10 @@ function setupVerdaccio(
     );
   }
 
+  execSync('echo "//localhost:4873/:_authToken=secretToken" > .npmrc', {
+    cwd: reactNativeRootPath,
+  });
+
   const verdaccioProcess = spawn(
     'npx',
     ['verdaccio@5.16.3', '--config', verdaccioConfigPath],
@@ -37,11 +41,7 @@ function setupVerdaccio(
   const VERDACCIO_PID = verdaccioProcess.pid;
 
   execSync('npx wait-on@6.0.1 http://localhost:4873');
-
   execSync('npm set registry http://localhost:4873');
-  execSync('echo "//localhost:4873/:_authToken=secretToken" > .npmrc', {
-    cwd: reactNativeRootPath,
-  });
 
   return VERDACCIO_PID;
 }
diff --git a/template/_node-version b/template/_node-version
index b6a7d89c68e0ca..3c032078a4a21c 100644
--- a/template/_node-version
+++ b/template/_node-version
@@ -1 +1 @@
-16
+18