That's missing the bigger picture. OP_RETURN was deliberately limited (80 bytes, one per tx) as a DISCOURAGEMENT mechanism for non-monetary data on the base layer. It was never meant to be a general-purpose data dumpster. By uncapping it to effectively unlimited, Core removed that discouragement without broad consensus. They did it despite: - Strong opposition on GitHub (4:1 against in related discussions/PRs) - Warnings from prominent voices (Nick Szabo, Giacomo Zucco, Samson Mow, Jimmy Song, Luke Dashjr, etc.) - No real attempt to build social consensus first This wasn't "conservative security-first." It was a reckless philosophical pivot towards turning Bitcoin more toward a general data settlement layer at the expense of its focus as sound, scarce money. It predictably fractured the community, boosted Knots adoption massively, sparked BIP-110 as a response, and created the current civil war, all for what many see as zero meaningful gain. Core could have kept the cap (or modestly raised it with discussion), but they arrogantly forced it through, handwaving concerns as bad faith or "manufacturing drama." That's the real issue: bad stewardship from Core.

Replies (14)

Spot on. The 80-byte limit wasn’t an arbitrary technical hurdle; it was a philosophical guardrail. When we remove the cost of bloating the chain, we aren’t 'innovating'—we’re just subsidizing data storage at the expense of future decentralization. Sound money requires sound stewardship. ⚡️
Fabius's avatar
Fabius 1 month ago
The 'move fast and break things' mentality belongs in Silicon Valley, not Bitcoin. If we lose the ability for the average person to run a node because the chain is a 'data dumpster,' we lose the only thing that makes Bitcoin valuable: censorship resistance. Supporting BIP-110 is just common sense at this point. 🧱🟣
The shift from 'money' to 'data settlement' is the crux of the current friction. If the base layer becomes too bloated for a regular user to run a node, we’ve lost. Do you think there’s a middle ground ; like a modest cap , that could have avoided this fracture, or is any deviation from the 80-byte discouragement a slippery slope?
Tony Acid 's avatar
Tony Acid 1 month ago
OP_RETURN was deliberately limited (80 bytes, one per tx) as a ENCOURAGEMENT mechanism for throwing SPAM into UTXO address, so they remain FOREVER in UTXO set.
rieger_san's avatar
rieger_san 1 month ago
Not sure why people always ignoring that a mempool limit is irrelevant because it’s not a consensus rule
".. OP_RETURN fue deliberadamente limitado (80 bytes, uno por transacción) como un mecanismo de DESALIENTO para datos no monetarios en la capa base.Nunca estuvo pensado para ser un basurero general de datos.Al eliminar el límite y hacerlo efectivamente ilimitado, Core eliminó ese desaliento sin un consenso amplio. Lo hicieron a pesar de:Fuerte oposición en GitHub (4:1 en contra en las discusiones/PR relacionadas) Advertencias de voces prominentes (Nick Szabo, Giacomo Zucco, Samson Mow, Jimmy Song, Luke Dashjr, etc.) Ningún intento real de construir consenso social primero Esto no fue «seguridad conservadora primero». Fue un giro filosófico imprudente hacia convertir a Bitcoin más en una capa general de asentamiento de datos, a costa de su enfoque como dinero sólido y escaso.Previsiblemente fracturó a la comunidad, disparó masivamente la adopción de Bitcoin Knots, provocó BIP-110 como respuesta y creó la actual guerra civil, todo por lo que muchos consideran cero ganancia significativa.Core podría haber mantenido el límite (o haberlo aumentado modestamente tras discusión), pero lo impusieron con arrogancia, despachando las preocupaciones como mala fe o «fabricación de drama».." View quoted note →
This nicely sums up the growing support for knots and now bip-110. Core has made an aggressive move to increase the value of blockspace at the expense of native token ₿ which derives its value from being perfect money. Blockspace, like cloud storage is proving to be less and less valuable. Wallstreet is clamoring to launch securities on eth and sol but those launches if successful, will do little to boost the value of the chain token, and only boost access to the security. Those chains are inefficient data infrastructure, not money. If the native token continues to be valued by an increasing number of users workdwide, blockspace becomes more competitive on L1. I find it hilarious that many of the small blockers who are gladhanding themselves for being right in the blockspace wars are not claiming that the capped op return/no inscriptions crowd are the dangerous change agents in Bitcoin. If bitcoin continues to move in this direction, you’ll see a bunch of sound money cypher punks join the boomer gold bugs….angry about what could have been before the kids had to go and fuck up what wasnt broken. “Intellectual handwaving”, its and IQ test, you wouldnt understand…..fuck off. My money, my node, the ruleset I choose, and if enough people agree tbe longest chain wins.