Core group has released the latest statement, and the Bitcoin core development circle is in an uproar. I see that there isn't much discussion in the Chinese community, so I'll analyze the background story and my personal strong opinion. First, yesterday Bitcoin Core released a statement called "Bitcoin Core Development and Transaction Relay Policy", which opponents furiously denounce as notorious like the "New York Agreement".
So what exactly does this statement say? Bitcoin Core wants to push its own built-in transaction relay. I believe this transaction relay is paving the way for previously canceling the OP-Return area restrictions. Why would this spark extensive discussion?
It's because there's a backstory behind the backstory, which I've discussed before - two years ago, when inscriptions became widespread, these inscriptions and runes were sneakily stored in the OP-Return area of Bitcoin blocks through a "bug exploiting" method, thus indirectly breaking through Bitcoin's block limit.
As a result, Bitcoin is now divided into right-wing and far-right factions. Inscriptions have irritated the far-right faction, so under Luke's call, the second-ranked client Knots launched a garbage filter, directly treating these inscription transactions as trash transactions and refusing to package them. If you recall, this even caused Ordi to plummet. However, the ordinary right-wing, namely the Bitcoin Core group, believed that since inscriptions could already exploit bugs to go on-chain, it's better to legitimize them rather than let them continue exploiting bugs.
In recent months, the Core group proposed a new PR, wanting to change OP-Return from 80KB to unlimited, essentially removing restrictions on inscriptions and allowing them to go on-chain openly. Although inscriptions were mostly poured on, I believe this is somewhat an additional subsidy to miners, as earning more can make the Bitcoin network more secure.
After discussing the background, let's talk about what this "transaction relay" actually is. Theoretically, Bitcoin is a P2P network where all miners are directly connected. However, this approach, while theoretically the safest, isn't necessarily needed given the current relatively safe network environment.
Thus, "transaction relay" emerged, where everyone can first send transactions to a relay (note it's voluntary), which has two major benefits:
1. It helps prevent DoS attacks, preventing zero-fee transactions from overwhelming miners' point-to-point servers;
2. Accelerating block transaction propagation, reducing latency helps prevent large miners from gaining unfair advantages.
It's actually a good thing. In the past, transaction relays had different strategies, with some strictly filtering trash transactions and others being completely free.
PS: I don't consider this transaction censorship; it's more about filtering trash transactions, and users can choose not to use these functions. Actually, the right-wing (Core group) and far-right (Luke and others) both have demands for filtering trash transactions, but the core contradiction is that everyone defines "trash transactions" completely differently.
The far-right considers inscriptions as trash transactions that should be eliminated, believing Bitcoin shouldn't become a storage chain. The right-wing believes we shouldn't censor (inscriptions) or restrict certain transactions from going on-chain. Filters should only filter pure DoS attacks. PS: Although I used "far-right", it doesn't carry a derogatory meaning. The former is radical trash filtering, the latter is moderate trash filtering.
In the past, these transaction relays were essentially volunteer-maintained, especially with "radical trash filtering rules" because these volunteers had strong beliefs - hatred towards inscriptions. However, once the Core group personally adds "moderate trash filtering rules" to the Bitcoin client, it might mean the market share of past "radical trash filtering rules" will drastically shrink.
If you're confused, let me make an analogy - it's like the official suddenly canonizing a CP, dimensionally attacking fan-made pairings, essentially the official killing fan works. Of course, although Core's market share exceeds 90%, Core doesn't consider themselves the "official".
Because Bitcoin is a network defined by its users, users have the ultimate free choice of which software to use and what policies to implement. Bitcoin Core contributors have no right to mandate these, and to avoid suspicion, they even avoid automatic software updates.
Personally, I support the Core group's update. As I said, if your fence is only 10 cm high and others can freely enter and exit, you might as well tear it down. Although I'm indifferent to inscriptions, I don't consider them trash transactions - as long as they pay normally, they're good transactions.
Inscriptions also pay fees proportionally, there's no need to argue about money, and they bring additional income to miners, helping Bitcoin maintain strong security after multiple halvings. I firmly oppose transaction censorship - Bitcoin's semi-official Core leading discrimination against transactions that normally pay fees, because transaction discrimination can gradually become transaction censorship.
One of Bitcoin's proudest attributes is its security and lack of transaction censorship. Adopting moderate trash filtering rules benefits both these characteristics. Critics attack that this is Core's compromise with miners (considering miners' income) at the expense of users. I disagree - inscription users are also Bitcoin users.
Times have progressed; it's not 2008's hardware environment. If Bitcoin's blockchain stores some text and images in 2025, it won't be difficult for nodes, and Satoshi Nakamoto himself carved the news of that year in the genesis block. Bitcoin will never become a storage chain, but what's wrong with storing some data as a side job without touching the underlying structure?
Real physical gold can be engraved with records, and our electronic gold should similarly tolerate this. So I strongly support the Core group's proposal.
Click to learn about BlockBeats job openings
Welcome to join the BlockBeats official community:
Telegram Subscription Group: https://t.me/theblockbeats
Telegram Discussion Group: https://t.me/BlockBeats_App
Official Twitter Account: https://twitter.com/BlockBeatsAsia
