What Bitcoin Did The OP_RETURN War: Who Controls Bitcoin w/ Bitcoin Mechanic
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May 14, 2025 
Bitcoin Mechanic, the Chief Boiling Officer at OCEAN, delves into the heated debate over OP_RETURN and Bitcoin node policy. He argues that arbitrary data like inscriptions can jeopardize Bitcoin’s integrity and why stricter filters are necessary. The discussion also highlights concerns over miner centralization, emphasizing the ideological clash within the development community. Mechanic sheds light on governance challenges, advocating for decentralized participation to safeguard Bitcoin's core principles and ensuring its resilience against emerging threats.
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Taproot Changed Spam Dynamics
- Bitcoin nodes have always filtered data unrelated to monetary transactions to prevent spam.
- The taproot upgrade unintentionally enabled new spam vectors, changing this dynamic in 2023.
Taproot Bug Enables Excessive Data
- Taproot contained a bug allowing bypassing OP_RETURN size limits with cheaper witness data.
- This led to people storing arbitrary data like inscriptions not originally intended by designers.
Filters Are Effective and Necessary
- Filters are effective at blocking spam like large OP_RETURN data but are criticized by Core developers.
- Filtering spam is rational; node operators shouldn't be forced to relay unwanted, costly data.