Bitcoin developers disagree on how the oldest and largest block chain in the world must handle storage information in the chain, with a proposal to relax the long -standing limits in the size of the data contained with a fierce fierce debate that reminds of the 2023 battles on the order.
The OP_RETURN Blockchain function allows people to attach a small piece of additional data to a transaction that is often used for things such as notes, time marks or digital records. The proposed change, presented by developer Peter Todd, would eliminate the limit of 80 bytes in these data, a limit originally designed to discourage spam and preserve the financial integrity of the block chain.
Supporters argue that the current limit makes no sense because users are already avoiding using Taproot transactions, to hide data within parts of the transaction for cryptographic signatures. This is how ordinals and inscriptions work (and why they have their critics): they embed images or send text messages in plug root transactions that often cannot be passed, turning the Bitcoin block chain into a type of data storage system.
Bitcoin Core developer, Luke Dashjr, a vocal critic of the ordinals, who has long labeled a “spam attack” in the block chain, called “total madness” proposal and warned that the loosening of data restrictions would accelerate what he sees as the degradation of Bitcoin’s financial purpose.
“It should be unnecessary to say it, but this idea is a total madness,” Dashjr published. “Errors must be solved, not the accepted abuse.”
Critics of the proposal also have another concern. The change could normalize the storage of illegal content, degrade the fungibility of the chain and convert node operators into involuntary hosts of malware and copyright violations.
To demonstrate the maximum maelstrom that this can bring, a computer team registered an entire Nintendo 64 emulator in the block chain, which can attract Nintendo’s attention, a company known for being protective of its intellectual property.
The supporters of the change, including Pieter Wuille and Sjors Provoost, argued that relaxing the op_return limits can actually reduce what is known as utxus swelling (output of transactions not worn), a phenomenon that slows the block chain when the network is disorderly disorderly with non -financial transactions and the fragmentation of the note.
Utxo Bloat is a documented side effect of ordinals and inscriptions that use Taproot transactions. For example, in May 2023, in the apogee of the popularity of the ordinals, the Bitcoin block chain became so congested that Binance had to suspend the withdrawals of Bitcoin (BTC) for several hours.
“Demand exists,” Wuille wrote. “And push it out of the public broadcast network only causes greater damage.”
For now, the proposal remains under review. One thing is safe: the intensity of the debate on the mail lists of Github and Blockchain Developer shows that the battle for the identity of Bitcoin is far from finishing.
