The Bitcoin Core 30 update is scheduled to significantly relax OP_RETURN data limits, sparking a fierce debate in the community about blockchain bloat, node burden, and Bitcoin's core value, and undermining developer confidence. (Synopsis: Bitcoin is difficult to continue to write a new all-time high? BTC search is cold, volatility approaches two-year low) (Background added: Trump Truth Social applies for Bitcoin ETF, censor 'SEC chairman is his own family' causes controversy) The upcoming technical update promoted by the Bitcoin core team has sparked community debate about its decentralized core value and future direction, and the Bitcoin Core 30 update, which is expected to go live on October 30, 2025, includes a Bitcoin Core 30 update about OP_ The adjustment of the data storage limit of the RETURN function, which plans to significantly increase the carrying capacity of non-financial data on the blockchain, has led conservatives to worry deeply about blockchain inflation and the possible shaking of Bitcoin's "sound money" positioning. Technical adjustment of OP_RETURN data caps The core of the problem is that the Bitcoin Core 30 update (expected to be released on October 30, 2025) plans to remove the current 80 bits character limit for the OP_RETURN feature, which will allow up to 4MB of character data to be entered per transaction. This decision stemmed from the Merge Pull Request MPR #32406 signed off by 31 Bitcoin Core developers, emphasizing that this is a relay policy adjustment, a non-consensus rule change, simply put, this is an open option and not mandatory, miners and node operators can decide whether to process such transactions through their own discretion. Since last year, the OP_RETURN feature has attracted attention due to the popularity of the Ordinals protocol, which allows users to create digital assets similar to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain. Scaling and Risk: Deeply Divergent Community Views There are polar views within the Bitcoin community on relaxing the character limit for Bitcoin transactions. Proponents argue that this will expand the use cases of bitcoin beyond purely financial transactions, and should respect users' right to freely use the blockchain. They point out that the original 80 bits limit had limited effect, and that users could still write data to the chain in other ways that were more detrimental to node operations, such as hiding data in UTXO. While the new measures better reflect the actual operation of miners, create a more level playing field and reduce the incentive for users to negotiate transactions directly with miners, Bitcoin Core developer Gloria Zhao said in a comment on GitHub: "Requiring Bitcoin Core to prevent certain types of transactions from being packaged by miners reflects a misunderstanding of the relationship between users and developers of open source software." Objection Arguments Opponents are strongly concerned about the proposal to increase the maximum of 4MB per transaction that significantly expanding the OP_RETURN data limit will cause the blockchain to flood with "junk data" and swell rapidly, significantly increasing the storage and verification burden of full nodes, and ultimately threatening Bitcoin's decentralized nature. Critics firmly believe that the core value of bitcoin lies in the function of financial transactions and the "debankization spirit" of bitcoin payments, and that the principle of minimized availability should be maintained. They warn that larger OP_RETURN output will exacerbate unspent transaction output (UTXO) bloat, drive up node operating costs, and may indirectly lead to more concentrated mining power. Alexander Lin, co-founder of cryptocurrency investor Reforge, bluntly stated on Platform X (formerly Twitter) that expanding the data limit was a "terrible mistake" and claimed that it would "increase the systemic risk of bitcoin as a core feature of sound money." Developer confidence shakes and market share shifts Since the proposal was announced on April 28 this year, according to Coin Dance data, Bitcoin Core's dominance in the Bitcoin node market has dropped from around 98% to around 88%, with the churn share mainly received by Bitcoin Knots clients. Bitcoin commentator Matthew R. Kratter analyzed on Platform X that this decision may be detrimental to the long-term development of Bitcoin Core, predicting that its dominance may fall to 20% to 30% in the next one to three years. Some Bitcoin supporters, including Satoshi Action Fund CEO Dennis Porter, expressed disappointment. Porter noted: "I have helped core developers raise over $200,000 in the past in the Bitcoin space. Now, my confidence in their work has been shattered." Jason Hughes, vice president of mining company Ocean, hinted at a possible exit from the bitcoin industry as a result. In addition, the process of change has been criticized for lacking sufficient community consensus, and some opponents have even been banned for expressing dissent (officially spamming) on the GitHub development channel: We Bitcoin lovers? We are now shitcoins. Welcome to Shitcoin Cruise Lines, former Bitcoin enthusiasts! This is your captain, the Bitcoin Core collective company, including the public marketing department, brought to you by today's sponsor [Shitcoin Today]. The adjustment of the OP_RETURN data limit has a great impact on the Bitcoin community, accelerating the possibility of a split in the Bitcoin community, if the two sides continue to stalemate in the future, will there be a large-scale event like the BCH fork in 2017? For the Bitcoin OP_RETURN event, we need to pay close attention. Related reports US core PCE hit a four-year low in April! Inflation cools, confidence rebounds, but Fed microphone warns of two risks Trump and Ball White House interview "ask Fed to cut interest rates", Powell reiterates: Fed adheres to the principle of non-politicization Fed announces May FOMC record "mining companies plunge": tariffs are being passed on to consumers, uncertainty increases "Bitcoin relaxes OP_RETURN "angers old OG": BTC becomes a shitcoin, consider selling out of the industry" This article was first published in BlockTempo's The most influential blockchain news media.
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Bitcoin relaxes OP_RETURN "angers the old OG": BTC becomes junk coin, considering selling off to exit the industry
The Bitcoin Core 30 update is scheduled to significantly relax OP_RETURN data limits, sparking a fierce debate in the community about blockchain bloat, node burden, and Bitcoin's core value, and undermining developer confidence. (Synopsis: Bitcoin is difficult to continue to write a new all-time high? BTC search is cold, volatility approaches two-year low) (Background added: Trump Truth Social applies for Bitcoin ETF, censor 'SEC chairman is his own family' causes controversy) The upcoming technical update promoted by the Bitcoin core team has sparked community debate about its decentralized core value and future direction, and the Bitcoin Core 30 update, which is expected to go live on October 30, 2025, includes a Bitcoin Core 30 update about OP_ The adjustment of the data storage limit of the RETURN function, which plans to significantly increase the carrying capacity of non-financial data on the blockchain, has led conservatives to worry deeply about blockchain inflation and the possible shaking of Bitcoin's "sound money" positioning. Technical adjustment of OP_RETURN data caps The core of the problem is that the Bitcoin Core 30 update (expected to be released on October 30, 2025) plans to remove the current 80 bits character limit for the OP_RETURN feature, which will allow up to 4MB of character data to be entered per transaction. This decision stemmed from the Merge Pull Request MPR #32406 signed off by 31 Bitcoin Core developers, emphasizing that this is a relay policy adjustment, a non-consensus rule change, simply put, this is an open option and not mandatory, miners and node operators can decide whether to process such transactions through their own discretion. Since last year, the OP_RETURN feature has attracted attention due to the popularity of the Ordinals protocol, which allows users to create digital assets similar to non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin blockchain. Scaling and Risk: Deeply Divergent Community Views There are polar views within the Bitcoin community on relaxing the character limit for Bitcoin transactions. Proponents argue that this will expand the use cases of bitcoin beyond purely financial transactions, and should respect users' right to freely use the blockchain. They point out that the original 80 bits limit had limited effect, and that users could still write data to the chain in other ways that were more detrimental to node operations, such as hiding data in UTXO. While the new measures better reflect the actual operation of miners, create a more level playing field and reduce the incentive for users to negotiate transactions directly with miners, Bitcoin Core developer Gloria Zhao said in a comment on GitHub: "Requiring Bitcoin Core to prevent certain types of transactions from being packaged by miners reflects a misunderstanding of the relationship between users and developers of open source software." Objection Arguments Opponents are strongly concerned about the proposal to increase the maximum of 4MB per transaction that significantly expanding the OP_RETURN data limit will cause the blockchain to flood with "junk data" and swell rapidly, significantly increasing the storage and verification burden of full nodes, and ultimately threatening Bitcoin's decentralized nature. Critics firmly believe that the core value of bitcoin lies in the function of financial transactions and the "debankization spirit" of bitcoin payments, and that the principle of minimized availability should be maintained. They warn that larger OP_RETURN output will exacerbate unspent transaction output (UTXO) bloat, drive up node operating costs, and may indirectly lead to more concentrated mining power. Alexander Lin, co-founder of cryptocurrency investor Reforge, bluntly stated on Platform X (formerly Twitter) that expanding the data limit was a "terrible mistake" and claimed that it would "increase the systemic risk of bitcoin as a core feature of sound money." Developer confidence shakes and market share shifts Since the proposal was announced on April 28 this year, according to Coin Dance data, Bitcoin Core's dominance in the Bitcoin node market has dropped from around 98% to around 88%, with the churn share mainly received by Bitcoin Knots clients. Bitcoin commentator Matthew R. Kratter analyzed on Platform X that this decision may be detrimental to the long-term development of Bitcoin Core, predicting that its dominance may fall to 20% to 30% in the next one to three years. Some Bitcoin supporters, including Satoshi Action Fund CEO Dennis Porter, expressed disappointment. Porter noted: "I have helped core developers raise over $200,000 in the past in the Bitcoin space. Now, my confidence in their work has been shattered." Jason Hughes, vice president of mining company Ocean, hinted at a possible exit from the bitcoin industry as a result. In addition, the process of change has been criticized for lacking sufficient community consensus, and some opponents have even been banned for expressing dissent (officially spamming) on the GitHub development channel: We Bitcoin lovers? We are now shitcoins. Welcome to Shitcoin Cruise Lines, former Bitcoin enthusiasts! This is your captain, the Bitcoin Core collective company, including the public marketing department, brought to you by today's sponsor [Shitcoin Today]. The adjustment of the OP_RETURN data limit has a great impact on the Bitcoin community, accelerating the possibility of a split in the Bitcoin community, if the two sides continue to stalemate in the future, will there be a large-scale event like the BCH fork in 2017? For the Bitcoin OP_RETURN event, we need to pay close attention. Related reports US core PCE hit a four-year low in April! Inflation cools, confidence rebounds, but Fed microphone warns of two risks Trump and Ball White House interview "ask Fed to cut interest rates", Powell reiterates: Fed adheres to the principle of non-politicization Fed announces May FOMC record "mining companies plunge": tariffs are being passed on to consumers, uncertainty increases "Bitcoin relaxes OP_RETURN "angers old OG": BTC becomes a shitcoin, consider selling out of the industry" This article was first published in BlockTempo's The most influential blockchain news media.