⚔️ Bitcoin’s Spam Wars: Core vs. Knots, Round Two

Not your average bug fix. With Bitcoin Core v30 dropping in October 2025, the network is heading for another civil war — this time over OPRETURN data limits. Is Bitcoin sound money only, or an open canvas for digital art, storage, and experiments?

⚡ Quick Hits

• 🗓️ Release: Bitcoin Core v30 (October 2025)
• 📜 Feature: Removes 80-byte OPRETURN cap
• 💥 Core stance: “Pay fees, use Bitcoin as you like”
• 🚫 Knots stance: “Spam bloat kills Bitcoin’s purpose”
• 📊 Knots adoption: 17% of nodes (doubled in May–June 2025)
• 🔄 Throwback: Echoes of 2017 SegWit & block size wars

🔎 What’s Going On?

At the center is OPRETURN — a field in Bitcoin transactions that lets you write arbitrary data (think poems, NFTs, notarized docs).

• Core camp (Peter Todd, Jameson Lopp): Bitcoin should be neutral. If you pay the fee, you own the block space. No gatekeepers.
• Knots camp (Luke Dashjr, Samson Mow): Bitcoin is money, not Dropbox. Unlimited OPRETURN = spam, bloated chain, creeping centralization.

👉 It’s not just code. It’s a philosophy war.

• Core’s vision: Bitcoin as anarchic neutrality. Mint art, store data, or inscribe memes — if it’s paid for, it belongs.
• Knots’ vision: Bitcoin as hard money only. Keep blocks small, keep spam out, keep decentralization alive.

As Lopp fired: “If you don’t like anarchy, you’re free to leave.” Dashjr shot back: “Bitcoin fails if we don’t reject this change.”

🛠️ Who Actually Decides?

• Miners & relay ops: decide which transactions get priority and whether spam becomes profitable.
• Node operators: vote with software. Knots’ share has surged to 17% of active nodes, signaling rising dissent.

But here’s the kicker: most BTC holders don’t run full nodes. Dashjr warns Bitcoin’s survival requires 85% of economic activity to rely on nodes. Reality? It’s far lower.

🚨 What’s at Stake

This isn’t just technical nitpicking — it could lead to another fork.

• If Core wins → Bitcoin evolves into a messy, multipurpose platform, where fees define legitimacy.
• If Knots gains traction → Bitcoin doubles down as money-only maximalism, rejecting non-monetary use cases.

Worst-case? Another 2017 SegWit moment. Chain split, market chaos, new ticker wars.

October’s v30 release isn’t just an upgrade — it could rewrite Bitcoin’s identity.

🌍 Bigger Picture

Bitcoin has always been two things at once:

1. A financial lifeboat — hard money immune to inflation.
2. A programmable playground — a blank canvas where anyone with sats and creativity can inscribe.

Now it has to choose. Does it lean into neutrality and experimentation, or narrow itself into a money-maxi fortress?

History shows: when philosophy collides with code, markets, miners, and bagholders all get dragged into the fight.

✍️ TL;DR

Bitcoin’s next civil war is here. Core v30 removes OPRETURN data limits, sparking a showdown between innovation vs. purity, neutrality vs. money-only maximalism. With Knots adoption rising and miners yet to pick sides, October’s release could either cement Bitcoin’s multipurpose future — or fracture it like 2017 all over again.