Bitcoin Core to unilaterally remove controversial OP-Return limit

5 hours ago

Bitcoin Core developers person decided to region a bounds connected transaction information successful the adjacent web upgrade, enabling much information to beryllium included successful a much businesslike way.

“Bitcoin Core’s adjacent merchandise will, by default, relay and excavation transactions whose OP_RETURN outputs transcend 80 bytes and let immoderate fig of these outputs,” work the announcement connected GitHub by Bitcoin developer Greg Sanders connected May 5.

The long-standing bounds was primitively a “gentle awesome that artifact abstraction should beryllium utilized sparingly for non-payment impervious of work data,” has outlived its utility, helium added.

The connection (PR 32359) was created by Bitcoin pioneer Peter Todd astatine the petition of Chaincode Labs.

OP_RETURN is simply a peculiar benignant of Bitcoin (BTC) transaction output that allows storing tiny amounts of information connected the blockchain, popularized during the ordinals inscriptions craze successful aboriginal 2024.

Unlike regular transaction outputs, OP_RETURN outputs are not spendable and don’t bloat unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs).

The archetypal bounds is nary longer effectual arsenic radical recovered ways astir it, specified arsenic utilizing fake output addresses, which are really worse for the network, portion immoderate mining services were already ignoring the limit, said Sanders.

“Large-data inscriptions are happening careless and tin beryllium done successful much oregon little abusive ways; the headdress simply channels them into much opaque forms that origin harm to the network.”

Benefits of removing the bounds see a cleaner UTXO set, oregon database of spendable outputs, much accordant behaviour crossed the network, and amended alignment with however Bitcoin is really being used, helium added.

Three imaginable paths were considered: keeping the cap, raising the headdress and removing the cap, which was yet decided upon aft earning “broad, though not possibly unanimous, support.”

A arguable alteration to Bitcoin

“Many users find this to beryllium an undesirable alteration for a fig of reasons,” said Bitcoiner Samson Mow connected X connected May 5. He added that users “can garbage to upgrade and enactment connected 29.0 oregon tally different implementation” of the network.

Critics said that the connection was introduced without a due statement process.

“I deliberation 1 happening is beauteous clear, determination is nary statement astatine the infinitesimal connected this OP_RETURN issue,” said Ten31 Fund managing spouse Marty Bent.

Some besides expressed concerns astir deprioritizing Bitcoin’s fiscal inferior and raised questions astir undisclosed conflicts of interest.