Veteran Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr is at the forefront of one of the most heated debates in cryptocurrency: what the original blockchain network should be used for.
The arrival of the Ordinals protocol in 2023, which allowed a form of NFT to be minted on Bitcoin, and Runes a year later, which did something similar with fungible tokens, sparked calls from several voices (few as prominent as Dashjr’s) that they bring unnecessary spam to the Bitcoin network, distracting it from its core mission.
This feature is part of CoinDesk List of the most influential of 2025.
Dashjr’s resume includes helping fix the accidental fork of Bitcoin in 2013 and maintaining alternative Bitcoin Knots, giving him the status of a venerable developer and commentator who warns against allowing a proliferation of non-financial transactions in Bitcoin.
This is part of the controversy surrounding proposed changes to the blockchain’s OP_RETURN, removing the 80-byte limit on data that can be attached to transactions, via “inscriptions.” Dashjr called this “total madness,” warning that relaxing data restrictions would clog the network with what he calls “spam” and detract from Bitcoin’s primary purpose as decentralized digital money.
Dashjr’s critics, however, argue that his vision for Bitcoin requires compromising its principle of immutability. Ocean, the Jack Dorsey-backed mining pool of which Dashjr is a founder, has refused to process some sign-up transactions.
These debates will continue into 2026 and beyond, and Luke Dashjr is likely to remain one of the most prominent voices in them.
