Crypto Journalist
Anas Hassan
Crypto Journalist
Anas Hassan
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Bitcoin Core released version 30.0 on October 12, removing the 80-byte OP_RETURN limit and increasing the default data carrier size to 100,000 bytes, effectively allowing nearly 4MB of arbitrary data per transaction while permitting multiple OP_RETURN outputs.
The controversial upgrade has split the community, with community members like Eric Gens issuing the “strongest warning” against running the version due to spam risks and potential legal liabilities.
At the same time, Blockstream CEO Adam Back defended the update, arguing that it contains essential security patches from “200 most skilled people on the planet.“
Technical Changes Trigger Philosophical War Over Bitcoin’s Purpose
The update also reduced the minimum relay fee from 1 to 0.1 satoshis per vByte and implemented TRUC transaction support for Lightning Network improvements.
Bitcoin Core has announced that it will disclose five low-severity vulnerabilities fixed in v30 within two weeks, with versions 27.x and older now at end-of-life status.
The release marks Bitcoin’s most significant policy shift since the block size wars, as the alternative implementation Bitcoin Knots has grown to represent 28% of network nodes, up from just 67 nodes in March 2024.
Trezor CTO Pavol Rusnak announced he’s running Bitcoin Core v30, while critics urged users not to upgrade.
Earlier this month, Nick Szabo warned that the “very well-publicized increase in the OP_RETURN allowance very publicly invites more non-financial data onto Bitcoin,” arguing that “Bitcoin is money, not a data spam Dropbox.”
The upgrade removed legacy BDB wallet support entirely, eliminating multiple wallet-related RPCs and requiring migration to the descriptor wallet format.
The philosophical divide centers on Bitcoin’s core function, with Ordinals ecosystem leader Leonidas threatening last month to fund a Bitcoin Core fork backed by miners controlling over 50% of the hash rate if developers attempt to censor transactions.
Leonidas claims that Ordinals and Runes have contributed over $500 million in transaction fees since 2023.
Security Patches Fuel Upgrade Pressure Despite Controversy
Adam Back argued that “socially attacking, urging rejection of security and robustness fixes” constitutes “itself an attack on Bitcoin,” emphasizing the importance of v30’s security improvements.
He criticized Luke Dashjr for “unblocking, replying, and reblocking so that people can’t correct him in thread,” calling it “such a weak move” and urging developers to rebase on v30 for half a dozen security bug fixes.
Bitcoin Core’s security disclosure policy states that five low-severity vulnerabilities fixed in v30 will be disclosed in two weeks, while any medium or high-severity fixes won’t be revealed until a year after release.
Most fixes in v30 have been backported to v29.2; however, developers noted that some vulnerabilities may be impossible to backport without revealing the issue to users before they can upgrade.
Luke Dashjr responded that security issues are “also fixed in Knots 29.2”.
He blamed “people actively trying to hide security issues from Knots devs,” claiming he was removed from the security list after serving for over a decade.
Notably, Bitcoin Advocate Alan Watts also argued that “Core v30 is not an existential threat to Bitcoin,” noting that “never again will nodes blindly update to the latest version” and calling this increased vigilance “a great victory.”
Data Expansion Stirs Block Size War-Era Tensions
The OP_RETURN expansion allows Atomicals Virtual Machine to execute more complex contracts directly on Bitcoin, with supporters arguing it enables crowdfunding protocols to store all participation and validation data within a single transaction.
As Adam previously noted, 105 million JPEGs now exist on-chain, up 20% since May, with average inscription costs of $8, displacing legitimate monetary transactions.
Just last month, Bitcoin Core developer Jimmy Song criticized the Taproot upgrade for overlooking the “social attack surface,” arguing that developers underestimated the unintended consequences of enabling non-financial transactions at scale.
Song said Taproot failed to deliver on its promises of privacy and efficiency, with a poor multisig user experience making it “basically a non-starter.”
However, he acknowledged that future applications, such as BitVM and Ark, could potentially justify the upgrade’s costs.
Back estimates Ordinals generate roughly 1% of excess fees, translating to approximately 0.1% of miner profits after network adjustments.
The spam industry generates $250 million annually in fees, but it also potentially damages Bitcoin’s reputation and prices out legitimate users.
He suggested economic lobbying mechanisms where fee-paying users direct payments toward pools that filter JPEG transactions.
Bitcoin Bearish? Big Uncertainty Ahead
The most intellectually honest assessment acknowledges that Bitcoin faces a critical juncture, where recovery from the Friday-Weekend liquidation event must prove sustainable by reclaiming key resistance levels or risk a deeper retracement.
The immediate challenge is breaking above $116,000 with conviction, which would validate the recovery and potentially trigger momentum buying toward the upper channel boundary around $120,000–$126,000 ATH.
The most probable near-term scenario involves continued consolidation between $110,000 and $118,000 as markets digest the liquidation event and assess whether conditions support a sustainable recovery.
A retest could happen if support around $110,000–$112,000 holds firmly and buying interest emerges on weakness.
However, failure of this support would likely accelerate decline toward $100,000-$105,000, potentially invalidating the bullish channel structure and suggesting more substantial correction ahead.
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