Coin Stories

Adam Back Part 2: Core vs. Knots - Spam, Censorship and Bitcoin's Future

29 snips
Oct 2, 2025
Guest
Adam Back
In this discussion, Adam Back, a prominent Bitcoin developer and Blockstream co-founder, delves into the Core vs. Knots debate, shedding light on the challenges of blockchain spam and censorship risks. He highlights the exponential growth of inscription spam and its effects on block space, underscoring the dilemma of distinguishing legitimate uses from spam in Bitcoin. Adam emphasizes the importance of cautious protocol changes to maintain censorship resistance and cautions against introducing mechanisms that could lead to data deletion, which threaten Bitcoin’s foundational values.
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INSIGHT

Finality Is Core To Bitcoin

  • Bitcoin's design prioritizes finality and censorship-resistance over editable records.
  • Removing or editing chain data risks creating compelled cooperation and censorship precedents.
INSIGHT

Inscriptions Drive Unexpected Blockchain Bloat

  • Inscriptions and non-transactional data have multiplied recently, creating significant blockchain bloat.
  • Many of these uses are speculative and diverge from Bitcoin's payment-centered design.
INSIGHT

UTXO Growth Raises Node Costs

  • Millions of unspent UTXOs from meme/token activity increase the UTXO-set and node memory requirements.
  • Higher RAM needs raise operational costs and stress node software and storage.
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