Core v.30 will expand the limit of OP_RETURN, stoking technical, legal and philosophical tensions. Luke Dashjr, maintainer of Knots, proclaimed himself “the savior of Bitcoin.” Nick Szabo, cryptographer and for many the person behind the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto, wrote a direct message to the software most used by Bitcoin nodes: “run Knots. “I strongly recommend not upgrading to Core v30.” He did so from his account on Core is the software most operated by nodes historically. Its new version (v.30) will arrive in October, which will expand the space for the OP_RETURN field to 100,000 bytes, allowing more non-monetary data to be included in transactionssuch as text, images, etc. That change will make it easier to use Bitcoin for store non-financial informationwhich many consider “spam.” In return, Knots incorporates filters that limit certain types of transactions (such as those that use OP_RETURN or similar inscriptions). For its supporters, this preserves the monetary nature of Bitcoin; For others, it limits the freedom to use the network. In that context, as explained by BitcoinDynamic, Szabo had already warned about this type of modifications, considering that can bring legal and technical risks. In his vision, by allowing a greater amount of arbitrary data in transactions, there is the possibility that some of it is of illegal or copyrighted nature. If a node stores that information, its operator could be exposed to legal liabilities.
A debate that prevails in the Bitcoin ecosystem
On the same October 8, Bitcoin developer and maximalist Giacomo Zucco responded to Szabo from X. He said that does not share the idea that legal risks are a relevant argumentsince filters «can only reduce the frequency of certain content, but not eliminate it completely.» According to Zucco, it would take just one questionable transaction to trigger the same potential legal attacks. In any case, he agreed with Szabo in the general discomfort towards the direction Bitcoin Core is taking. Wicked, another well-known developer in the ecosystem, joined that discussion. In his opinion, those who fear the changes should avoid migrating to Knots and stay on previous versions of Core (v28 or v29) «until we further investigate whether the criticisms against Core 30 are unfounded.» Next, engineer Jameson Lopp also intervened. He recommended «getting to know Knots well before deciding to use it» and shared a document reviewing the history of the debate. There, Lopp emphasizes that Knots has a single maintainer, Luke Dashjr, while Core has a broader community of developers, which raises concerns about the governance of the former. For his part, Luke Dashjr also spoke on October 8. Curiously, in called himself “the savior of Bitcoin”«.
Even if we survive this Core 30 attack, this situation where I have to save Bitcoin every few years must end. The network cannot depend on a single person. Others must take responsibility. Luke Dashjr, Bitcoin Knots maintainer.
Dashjr argues that the opening of space for non-monetary data, promoted by Core 30, distorts Bitcoin’s function as electronic money and turns it into an information storage medium.
Bitcoin, money or data container
Along these lines, user Mr. Eman expressed that the Core v30 update «represents the final step in the capitulation and corruption of Bitcoin as a pure monetary network.» As he detailed, instead of focusing on correcting vulnerabilities derived from past updates such as SegWit and Taproot (which facilitated the appearance of arbitrary registrations and data), Core developers would have chosen to normalize these alternative uses. «Instead of reinforcing Bitcoin as money, they transform it into an uncensored storage system for any type of content,» he added. And he ruled that with this «plausible deniability» that protected node operators against the data they process, a central principle of network neutrality, disappears. Finally, BitcoinDynamic also reported that other relevant participants in the bitcoin ecosystem gave their opinion on their future decisions. For example, Adam Back, co-founder and CEO of Blockstream, anticipated that he will use Core v30, while Jimmy Song, like Szabo, will not. The background to this crossover is deeper than a simple technical difference: it defines the philosophical direction of Bitcoin. While one part of the ecosystem promotes the expansion of its use cases, another (led by figures such as Szabo or Dashjr) defends its original function as digital money, resistant to censorship and legally neutral.
