Bitcoin Core developers received mixed feedback from the Bitcoin community following the announcement of their v30 update, which introduces various node-related improvements in architecture, performance, and security.
Key highlights of Bitcoin Core 30.0 include optional encrypted connections between nodes for enhanced privacy and an increase in the OP_RETURN data limit from 80 to 100,000 bytes, allowing for a substantially larger amount of non-financial data to be included in Bitcoin transactions.
“With the launch of this new major version, versions 27.x and older will reach ‘End of Life’ and will no longer receive updates,” stated Sunday’s announcement.
While the update also addresses bug fixes, performance enhancements, and fee rate adjustments, the most contentious issue within the community is the increase in the OP_Return limit.
This significant change in the data limit facilitates the creation of more advanced and data-intensive decentralized applications on the network but has provoked criticism from Bitcoin purists who believe the network should be reserved exclusively for financial transactions.
New blocksize wars
Although this isn’t a protocol change, the ongoing discussion recalls the block size wars of 2017, which led to a hard fork resulting in Bitcoin Cash.
Some view the update positively, including Ark Labs Ecosystem Lead Alex Bergeron, who noted on X that he plans “to utilize all of the additional OP_Return space and WILL use it to enhance Bitcoin to be more like Ethereum, but improved.”
Satoshi Labs co-founder Pavol Rusnak also expressed his support for Bitcoin Core v30, citing its “excellent development team, peer-reviewed code,” and “sensible engineering decisions.”
However, others are less optimistic, arguing that it contradicts Bitcoin’s core principles as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system and might lead to blockchain bloat, higher node operation costs, and legal complications.
A workaround some node operators have already adopted is the alternative node software known as “knots,” allowing them to maintain strict data size limits—such as 80 bytes—on transactions.
“As a (hopefully) temporary measure, use Knots. I strongly recommend against upgrading to Core v30,” advised cryptography pioneer Nick Szabo last week on X.
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Earlier this month, Szabo voiced concerns over the legal ramifications of the data limit increase, as node operators might find themselves hosting “illegal data.”
“Without implementing safeguards that allow archival node operators to non-disruptively remove illegal content for which they could be held criminally liable,” he posted on X on Oct. 2.
Luke Dashjr, the founder of knots, has not commented on the update since its release, but he has previously expressed his concerns about the recent Bitcoin Core updates.
Data indicates that a considerable number of node operators are utilizing Knots software, with information from BitRef showing there are currently 5,114 Knots nodes, making up 21.48% of all Bitcoin nodes.
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