The Bitcoin Core developers received a mixed response from the Bitcoin community following their announcement of the v30 update, which introduces numerous changes to the node architecture, performance, and security.
Among the significant enhancements in Bitcoin Core 30.0 are optional encrypted connections between nodes for improved privacy and an increase in the OP_RETURN data limit from 80 to 100,000 bytes, allowing for a much larger volume of non-financial data to be included in Bitcoin transactions.
“With the launch of this new major version, versions 27.x and earlier are now at ‘End of Life’ and will no longer be updated,” the announcement stated.
While the update also encompassed bug fixes, performance enhancements, and fee rate adjustments, the increase in the OP_RETURN limit has sparked substantial debate within the community.
This considerable change in the data limit could facilitate the development of more advanced and data-intensive decentralized applications on the network. However, it has frustrated Bitcoin purists who believe the network should strictly be used for financial transactions.
New blocksize wars
Although this update did not involve a protocol change, the current discussions evoke memories of the block size wars from 2017, which ultimately resulted in a hard fork that created Bitcoin Cash.
Many view the update positively, including Ark Labs Ecosystem Lead Alex Bergeron, who stated via X on Friday that he plans “to utilize all of the additional OP_RETURN space and WILL use it to enhance Bitcoin, making it more like Ethereum, but better.”
Satoshi Labs co-founder Pavol Rusnak also expressed his preference for Bitcoin Core v30, citing the “great development team, peer-reviewed code,” and “sane engineering decisions.”
Conversely, others are less optimistic, arguing that the update contradicts Bitcoin’s core principles as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system and may lead to blockchain bloat, higher node operation costs, and potential legal challenges.
Many node operators are already utilizing an alternative node software known as “knots,” which allows them to enforce strict data size limits, such as 80 bytes, on transactions.
“As a (hopefully) temporary measure, run Knots. I strongly advise against upgrading to Core v30,” noted pioneer cryptographer Nick Szabo via X last week.
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Earlier this month, Szabo raised concerns regarding the legal ramifications of the increased data limit, as node operators could face risks associated with hosting “illegal data.”
“Without implementing safeguards that allow archival node operators to non-disruptively delete illegal content for which they may be held criminally responsible,” he explained via X on Oct. 2.
The creator of Knots, Luke Dashjr, has yet to comment on the update since its release; however, he has expressed criticism regarding the latest Bitcoin Core update.
Data indicates that a considerable number of node operators are utilizing Knots software, with BitRef reporting that there are currently 5,114 Knots nodes, which account for 21.48% of all Bitcoin nodes.
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