Jimmy Song slams Bitcoin Core devs for 'fiat' mentality on OP_Return

Jimmy Song, a Bitcoin (BTC) developer and advocate, slammed the determination by Bitcoin Core developers to region the OP_Return bounds for non-monetary information embedded connected the Bitcoin blockchain successful the upcoming Bitcoin Core 30 upgrade, calling it “fiat” mentality.

Song accused the Core developers of deflecting idiosyncratic concerns astir removing the OP_Return limit, which is presently 80 bytes successful size, and ignoring the significant pushback from the Bitcoin community and node runners. He besides said:

“The thought that spam is hard to define, and due to the fact that of this ambiguity, we shouldn't beryllium making immoderate distinctions astatine each successful the software, is simply a time-wasting statement from fiat authorities wherever you unreal not to cognize the obvious, truthful the existent statement tin ne'er get disconnected the crushed — the non-monetary uses of Bitcoin are spam.

You tin reason whether that's thing desirable oregon not, but saying you can't specify it is simply a stalling maneuver meant to debar the existent statement astir existent interaction — particularly, the semipermanent interaction of this change,” Song continued.

The propulsion petition for removing the OP_Return bounds was highly unpopular with the Bitcoin community, but was pushed done regardless. Source: GitHub

The OP_Return statement has raged connected for astir six months, and is reminiscent of the Bitcoin artifact size wars that took spot betwixt 2015 and 2017, which yet resulted successful a hard fork of the Bitcoin protocol that spawned Bitcoin Cash (BCH), starring immoderate successful the Bitcoin assemblage to speculate if the OP_Return wars volition effect successful a akin split.

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Node runners ballot with their feet successful historical exodus to Bitcoin Knots

The determination by Bitcoin Core devs to unilaterally stroke unfastened the OP_Return information bounds has near the Bitcoin assemblage divided and driven grounds numbers of Bitcoin node runners to Bitcoin Knots, an alternate implementation of the Bitcoin node software.

This surge successful nodes moving Bitcoin Knots, which present relationship for astir 20% of the network, compared to astir 1% successful 2024, represents a near-vertical leap successful conscionable 9 months.

A breakdown of the antithetic node bundle implementations connected the Bitcoin network. Source: Coin Dance

Knots allows node runners to enforce strict information size limits, which proponents reason is indispensable to sphere the decentralization of the Bitcoin protocol.

For comparison, higher-throughput blockchain networks and astute declaration platforms, which make acold much data, tin outgo tens of thousands of dollars to tally and necessitate specialized commercialized hardware, meaning lone affluent investors and ample corporations tin tally nodes and enforce the statement rules of those protocols.

Robust hardware requirements construe into accrued centralization of a blockchain protocol and a heightened hazard that a fewer nodes tin collude to change the statement rules oregon reverse transactions.

Magazine: Bitcoin’s semipermanent information fund problem: Impending situation oregon FUD?