Bitcoin nodes protesting OP_RETURN change hit all-time high
By: bitcoin ethereum news|2025/05/07 21:45:02
0
Share
Since Bitcoin Core developers began proposing a controversial increase to the data storage capacity of a Bitcoin script operation code, the number of node operators protesting that change has hit an all-time high. Internet-connected full nodes propagating Knots-tagged blocks that reject the proposed increased data limit have doubled since the OP_RETURN war began last month. On April 17, Chaincode Labs’ Antoine Poinsot reintroduced Peter Todd’s pull request (PR) 28130 that asked Core contributors to lift the roughly 80-byte restriction on the datacarrier limit OP_RETURN outputs. As Core contributors indicated their willingness to proceed with the change, software downloads of an alternate full node client, Knots, skyrocketed. As disagreements divided the Bitcoin community, Peter Todd eventually formalized the request as PR 32359. Despite dozens of reviewers voting “NACK” — shorthand for “negative acknowledgement” — Blockstream engineer and Core contributor Greg Sanders wrote that Core was planning to implement PR 32359 within a few days . Knots’ default mempool will not lift the datacarrier limit of OP_RETURN, no matter what Core decides. Therefore, the growth of reachable Knots nodes — which reached an all-time high of 6.5% yesterday, according to tracker Coin.dance — is a proxy for measuring the resistance movement. Corporate interests versus Bitcoin’s preeminence For the larger data limit camp, increasing OP_RETURN’s datacarrier simply normalizes its on-chain data storage limits with other ways to store arbitrary data in bitcoin transactions, such as witness outputs. Removing OP_RETURN’s 80-byte cap is a simple, unremarkable upgrade, according to their rhetoric. For the smaller data limit camp, many of whom run Knots, the proposal is evidence that Bitcoin Core developers are succumbing to corporate and venture capital interests in using Bitcoin’s largest mempool as a distributed database. Allowing easier proliferation and validation of images, music, games, contracts, and non-transactional data is a slippery slope that undermines bitcoin’s primary purpose of displacing fiat. Read more: Moderators censor Bitcoin devs as OP_RETURN war rages on Decision time for Bitcoin’s 2025 OP_RETURN war A major conference of Bitcoin developers is starting today in Austin. The main topic of discussion will be PR 32359 and mempool policy, with a final decision on the proposal expected momentarily. New comments are arriving by the hour on the Bitcoin-Dev mailing list, GitHub, StackerNews, and X. Bitcoin full node operators may choose any software client they wish to validate and propagate transactions. Core is by far the dominant version with 19,662 reachable nodes as of publication time , while Knots is the second-most popular client at 1,464. Other clients include btcd, Bitcore, and UASF. Although there are hundreds of thousands of full node operators in the world, it’s impossible to quantify how many full nodes actually exist. Bitcoin is purpose-built to accommodate nodes with intermittent internet access, and nodes are free to join and leave the network at any moment. Reachable node trackers like Coin.dance, Bitnodes, or Clark Moody use various types of internet monitoring tools to estimate the number of nodes that are reachable at any given moment. Got a tip? Send us an email securely via Protos Leaks . For more informed news, follow us on X , Bluesky , and Google News , or subscribe to our YouTube channel. Source: https://protos.com/bitcoin-nodes-protesting-op_return-change-hit-all-time-high/
You may also like

Key Market Information Discrepancy on March 13th - A Must-See! | Alpha Morning Report
1. Top News: Latest Developments in US-Iran Conflict, Son of Soleimani Vows Revenge, US Navy Plans to Escort Ships in the Strait of Hormuz
2. Token Unlock: $HTM

On-Chain Options Explosion.ActionEvent
Options are becoming the new anchor in the cryptocurrency market.

《Time》 Magazine Names Anthropic as the World's Most Disruptive Company
The most AI-wary company has created the most dangerous AI

Predictions market gains mainstream traction in the US, Canada, Claude launches Chart Interaction feature, What's the English community talking about today?
What Did Foreigners Care About Most in the Last 24 Hours?

500 Million Dollars, 12 Seconds to Zero: How an Aave Transaction Fed Ethereum's "Dark Forest" Food Chain
Spend $154,000 to buy AAVE at market price of only $111

AI Agent needs Crypto, not Crypto needs AI
It is not Crypto that needs AI to survive, but rather AI Agents that need Crypto to be implemented: when AI truly shifts from "thinking" to "executing," it must seek the boundaries of authority and funding within the programmable primitives of Crypto.

Stablecoins are breaking away from cryptocurrency, becoming the next generation of infrastructure for global payments
The use of stablecoins is shifting from facilitating low-cost cross-border remittances to supporting general commercial activities and inter-company vendor payments.

Web3 teams should stop wasting marketing budgets on the X platform
The announcements from the project party are still very important, but they should no longer be the starting point of promotional activities; instead, they should be the endpoint.

Strive buys Strategy stocks, and Bitcoin treasury companies start nesting each other
When everyone's bets are placed on the same table, the difference between "structured financing" and "concentrated gambling" may just be a few more arrows drawn on the PPT.

Strive to buy Strategy stock, Bitcoin Treasury company starts nesting dolls with each other
Bitcoin hodlers are starting to nested be in each other.

Key Market Intel on March 12th, how much did you miss out on?
1. On-chain Funds: $29.7M inflow to Hyperliquid today; $30.9M outflow from Base
2. Biggest Gainers/Losers: $DRV, $LYN
3. Top News: US plans to release 172M barrels of oil to curb prices, on-chain pre-market crude oil gains narrow by 4%

The new center of Crypto
But the market is constantly evolving. By 2026, companies that can adapt to the new environment will survive, while those that continue to rely on the old script may face the fate of elimination.

Former Coinbase CPO's lengthy article: I have regrets, but I still firmly believe in Crypto
People often fantasize that wealth comes from catching every new wave. Sometimes this is true. But more often, wealth comes from riding a real wave and not blindly paddling away every time the water splashes around.

Hormuz Strait Triggers Oil War, Will the Fed Blink with a Rate Cut in June?
Polymarket data shows that the current market is betting a 64% probability of an interest rate cut in June this year, with the probability rising to 81% for September.

After Law Enforcement in the US and the UK Seized Cryptocurrency, ‘Asset Return’ Never Really Happened
The digital assets that should have been returned to the victims have quietly flowed into government treasuries, strategic reserve funds, and law enforcement agencies' operational budgets.

Why Does Everyone Hate AI?
AI and Silicon Valley's PR Crisis

Kyle Samani Returns to Crypto? Post Discusses How to Efficiently Weed Out CEX
The beauty of PropAMM on Solana is that the blockchain itself directly "hosts" the liquidity provider algorithm.

What are the chances of a 5X MOONSHOT for HYPE?
Hyperliquid is building a new growth logic
Key Market Information Discrepancy on March 13th - A Must-See! | Alpha Morning Report
1. Top News: Latest Developments in US-Iran Conflict, Son of Soleimani Vows Revenge, US Navy Plans to Escort Ships in the Strait of Hormuz
2. Token Unlock: $HTM
On-Chain Options Explosion.ActionEvent
Options are becoming the new anchor in the cryptocurrency market.
《Time》 Magazine Names Anthropic as the World's Most Disruptive Company
The most AI-wary company has created the most dangerous AI
Predictions market gains mainstream traction in the US, Canada, Claude launches Chart Interaction feature, What's the English community talking about today?
What Did Foreigners Care About Most in the Last 24 Hours?
500 Million Dollars, 12 Seconds to Zero: How an Aave Transaction Fed Ethereum's "Dark Forest" Food Chain
Spend $154,000 to buy AAVE at market price of only $111
AI Agent needs Crypto, not Crypto needs AI
It is not Crypto that needs AI to survive, but rather AI Agents that need Crypto to be implemented: when AI truly shifts from "thinking" to "executing," it must seek the boundaries of authority and funding within the programmable primitives of Crypto.