Bitcoin Core’s next major upgrade has reignited old tensions in the community, pitting developers who want a neutral, fee-driven network against purists who see non-financial data as spam.
Bitcoin Core v30, expected in October, will remove the 80-byte cap on OP_RETURN, the part of a transaction script that allows users to embed arbitrary data.
Bitcoin Core is software that runs the Bitcoin network, maintained by an open group of developers but widely relied upon by miners and node operators. While alternatives such as Knots exist, Bitcoin Core is the protocol’s reference implementation that is run by the majority of the network.
On the surface, the dispute looks like a policy debate over whether Bitcoin’s blockchain should be reserved for financial means or opened up to broader uses. But beneath that, the controversy taps into deeper political fault lines, with some factions accusing Bitcoin Core of compromising principles or bending to outside influence.
Node operators are flocking to Bitcoin Knots as OP_RETURN splits opinions. Source: Coin Dance
The battle over Bitcoin’s purpose
Critics of Bitcoin Core v30 warn that removing the OP_RETURN cap could open the door to spam and resource drain. They argue that larger OP_RETURNs encourage non-monetary transactions that crowd out payments and increase the burden on nodes.
Bitcoin Core’s statement stops short of endorsing non-financial data but accepts the open use of the network. Source: Samson Mow
Supporters of the money-first philosophy see this as a misuse of the system, insisting that Bitcoin was designed as a peer-to-peer payments network, not as a data hosting service.
That view is embodied in Bitcoin Knots, an alternative client maintained by Luke Dashjr, which enforces stricter default policies to block what it classifies as non-financial data. Knots is designed to make it more difficult to relay or embed arbitrary content.
Related: Bitcoin Knots gain ground: Will a chain split kill BTC price?
Core developers defend their decision on different grounds. Gloria Zhao, a Bitcoin Core maintainer, said that those backing the change “aren’t enthusiastic about…
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