Solution worse than problem? Adam Back opposes BIP-110 Ordinals fix

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has opposed a connection aimed astatine reducing Ordinals-like “spam” connected Bitcoin, informing that the hole could bash much harm than bully to the network’s credibility.

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP-110) was projected by pseudonymous Bitcoin developer Dathon Ohm successful December. Nearly 7.5% of Bitcoin nodes — each of which are Bitcoin Knots clients — person signaled readiness for BIP-110, according to data.

The connection seeks to temporarily shrink however overmuch information tin beryllium stored successful Bitcoin transactions to trim the magnitude of images, videos, audios and different “data abuse” flooding the network.

While Back agreed that Bitcoin should enactment arsenic “sound money,” helium said successful a station to X connected Sunday that it wasn’t worthy a consensus-level change, adding that BIP-110 would beryllium “an attack” connected Bitcoin’s credibility arsenic a store of worth and unafraid monetary network. 

“It’s a lynch mob effort to propulsion changes determination is not statement for,” helium said, adding that spam is “just an annoyance” that poses nary existent information menace to the network.

Source: Adam Back

BIP-110 is lone a impermanent hole to trim arbitrary data, aimed astatine giving the Bitcoin assemblage the quality to evaluate the impact for 12 months portion developers enactment connected a longer-term solution.

BIP-110 has gained much enactment from validators moving Bitcoin Knots, which started taking marketplace stock from Bitcoin Core successful the backmost fractional of 2025, erstwhile Bitcoin Core developers removed the 80-byte bounds connected the OP_RETURN relation successful precocious October, enabling much non-financial transactions to flood the Bitcoin network.

Bitcoin Core’s marketplace stock of Bitcoin nodes has fallen from astir 98% to 77.2% since the arguable OP_RETURN relation sparked statement successful the Bitcoin assemblage implicit what transactions should beryllium allowed connected the network, with Bitcoin Knots' stock rising to 22.7%.

Back is among galore who opposed removing the 80-byte bounds connected the OP_RETURN function, stating successful September that Ordinals-like spam has “no spot successful the timechain.”

However, helium flagged that a solution similar BIP-110 has the imaginable to frost funds by rendering definite unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs) unspendable.

Ohm acknowledged that it is theoretically imaginable for funds to beryllium frozen, but added: “This connection goes to large pains to debar affecting immoderate known usage cases.”

Related: Bitcoin holders are being tested arsenic ostentation eases: Pompliano 

Those successful favour of non-financial transactions, similar Bitcoin Ordinals person Leonidas, person noted that the Ordinals and Runes ecosystems person contributed implicit $500 cardinal successful transaction fees to fortify Bitcoin’s security — thing which has go an expanding interest arsenic the mining artifact subsidy continues to halve each 4 oregon truthful years.

Bitcoin Ordinals enactment has tanked

However, Dune Analytics information shows that Ordinals inscription fees were consistently netting little than $10,000 per time for Bitcoin miners by the extremity of 2025, making it hard for them to trust connected non-financial transactions for revenue.

Ordinal enactment reached its highest much than 2 years ago, with Bitcoin miners collecting astir $10 cardinal successful fees connected Dec. 16, 2023.

Since then, fees person trended downward but for a fewer short-lived spikes.

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