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Crypto Insight
07-05-2025
- Business
- Crypto Insight
Bitcoin Core to unilaterally remove controversial OP-Return limit
Bitcoin Core developers have decided to remove a limit on transaction data in the next network upgrade, enabling more data to be included in a more efficient way. 'Bitcoin Core's next release will, by default, relay and mine transactions whose OP_RETURN outputs exceed 80 bytes and allow any number of these outputs,' read the announcement on GitHub by Bitcoin developer Greg Sanders on May 5. The long-standing limit was originally a 'gentle signal that block space should be used sparingly for non-payment proof of publication data,' has outlived its utility, he added. The proposal (PR 32359) was created by Bitcoin pioneer Peter Todd at the request of Chaincode Labs. OP_RETURN is a special type of Bitcoin transaction output that allows storing small amounts of data on the blockchain, popularized during the ordinals inscriptions craze in early 2024. Unlike regular transaction outputs, OP_RETURN outputs are not spendable and don't bloat unspent transaction outputs (UTXOs). The original limit is no longer effective as people found ways around it, such as using fake output addresses, which are actually worse for the network, while some mining services were already ignoring the limit, said Sanders. 'Large-data inscriptions are happening regardless and can be done in more or less abusive ways; the cap merely channels them into more opaque forms that cause damage to the network.' Benefits of removing the limit include a cleaner UTXO set, or database of spendable outputs, more consistent behavior across the network, and better alignment with how Bitcoin is actually being used, he added. Three possible paths were considered: keeping the cap, raising the cap and removing the cap, which was ultimately decided upon after earning 'broad, though not perhaps unanimous, support.' A controversial change to Bitcoin 'Many users find this to be an undesirable change for a number of reasons,' said Bitcoiner Samson Mow on X on May 5. He added that users 'can refuse to upgrade and stay on 29.0 or run another implementation' of the network. Critics said that the proposal was introduced without a proper consensus process. 'I think one thing is pretty clear, there is no consensus at the moment on this OP_RETURN issue,' said Ten31 Fund managing partner Marty Bent. Some also expressed concerns about deprioritizing Bitcoin's financial utility and raised questions about undisclosed conflicts of interest. Source:
Yahoo
30-04-2025
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Debate on Looser Data Limits Brings to Mind the Divisive Ordinals Controversy
Bitcoin developers are again at odds over how the world's oldest and largest blockchain should handle storing information on-chain, with a proposal to relax long-standing limits on the size of data held sparking fierce debate reminiscent of 2023's battles over Ordinals. The blockchain's OP_RETURN feature allows people attach a small piece of extra data to a transaction It is often used for things like notes, timestamps or digital records. The proposed change, put forward by developer Peter Todd, would remove the 80-byte cap on such data, a limit originally designed to discourage spam and preserve the blockchain's financial integrity. Supporters argue the current limit is pointless because users are already bypassing it by using Taproot transactions, to hide data inside parts of the transaction meant for cryptographic signatures. This is how Ordinals and Inscriptions work (and why they have their critics): They embed images or text into Taproot transactions that are often unspendable, turning the Bitcoin blockchain into a kind of data storage system. Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr, a vocal critic of Ordinals, which he has long labeled a 'spam attack' on the blockchain, called the proposal 'utter insanity' and warned that loosening data restrictions would accelerate what he sees as the degradation of Bitcoin's financial-first purpose. 'It should be needless to say, but this idea is utter insanity,' Dashjr posted. 'The bugs should be fixed, not the abuse embraced.' Critics of the proposal also have another concern. The change could normalize illegal content storage, degrade the chain's fungibility, and turn node operators into unwitting hosts of malware and copyright violations. To demonstrate the potential maelstrom this may bring, one Ordinals team inscribed a whole Nintendo 64 emulator onto the blockchain, which may get the attention of Nintendo, a company known for being protective of its intellectual property. Supporters of the change, including Pieter Wuille and Sjors Provoost, argued that relaxing OP_RETURN limits may actually reduce what's known as UTXO (unspent transaction output) bloat, a phenomenon that slows down the blockchain when the network gets cluttered with non-financial transactions, and mempool fragmentation. UTXO bloat is a documented side effect of Ordinals and Inscriptions using Taproot transactions. For example, in May 2023, at the height of Ordinals' popularity, the Bitcoin blockchain became so congested Binance had to suspend bitcoin (BTC) withdrawals for a number of hours. 'The demand exists,' Wuille wrote. 'And pushing it outside the public relay network only causes greater harm.' For now, the proposal remains under review. One thing is for certain: The intensity of debate on GitHub and blockchain developer mailing lists shows the battle for Bitcoin's identity is far from in to access your portfolio
