According to a developer, an upcoming Bitcoin software update will significantly increase the data limit of a controversial feature, allowing more images, text, and documents to be stored on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Bitcoin Core developer Gloria Zhao posted on GitHub on Monday that the Bitcoin Core 30 update, scheduled for release on October 30, will remove the 80-byte limit on the controversial OP_RETURN feature, allowing each output to carry up to 4 megabytes of data.
This announcement came three days after 31 Bitcoin Core developers signed a statement supporting the change, referred to as Merge Pull Request (MPR) #32406. Bitcoin developers had previously indicated on May 5 that the data limit would be removed.
The OP_RETURN feature sparked last year's Ordinals craze, enabling Bitcoin users to publish various content on the blockchain, from non-fungible token-like collectibles to the Afghanistan war logs released by WikiLeaks in 2010.
This planned change has angered conservative members of the Bitcoin community, who believe that non-financial data will clog the blockchain with spam and argue that the network should focus on peer-to-peer Bitcoin transactions.
Alexander Lin, co-founder of cryptocurrency investment firm Reforge, stated on the X platform that expanding the data limit is a "serious mistake," claiming that raising the limit of this feature "increases the systemic risk to Bitcoin as a sound currency's core attributes."
Other Bitcoin supporters, including the proposal's main author Peter Todd, believe that increasing the data limit will expand Bitcoin's applications beyond the financial sector.
In her GitHub statement, Zhao indicated that Bitcoin Core developers tend to adopt a more hands-off approach, allowing users to use the blockchain as they see fit: "Requesting Bitcoin Core to block certain transactions from being mined reflects a misunderstanding of the relationship between open-source software users and developers."
Several Bitcoin supporters expressed strong dissatisfaction with the expansion of the data limit, including Satoshi Action Fund CEO Dennis Porter.
"During my time working with Bitcoin, I have helped raise over $200,000 for the core developers. Now my trust in their work has completely shattered," Porter stated, adding that he would no longer support Bitcoin Core development.
Jason Hughes, vice president of Bitcoin mining company Ocean, hinted that he might exit the Bitcoin industry.
"Personally, I no longer have the energy to continue this debate," he said in a lengthy post on X.
Since Todd proposed MPR #32406 on April 28, Bitcoin Core's dominance in the Bitcoin node market has dropped from about 98% to just above 88%, an anonymous Bitcoin user stated on the X platform.
According to coin.dance data, the Bitcoin Knots client has almost captured all of the lost market share, currently holding an 11.48% share.
Bitcoin commentator Matthew R. Kratter noted that the decision to raise the data limit could trouble Bitcoin Core in the long term, adding that its dominance might decline to the range of 20-30% within the next one to three years.
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Original article: “Bitcoin (BTC) Protocol Upgrade: Controversial OP_RETURN Function Data Capacity Limit to be Increased”
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