‘Bitcoin Standard’ author backs funding dev to make spamming Bitcoin costly

The Bitcoin network is facing a growing issue: spam inscriptions. This debate highlights ongoing tensions within the community regarding the network’s intended use. The core issue centers around the increasing use of Bitcoin’s OP_RETURN functionality for storing non-monetary data, such as images and other digital assets, leading to blockchain bloat and potentially undermining Bitcoin’s role as a monetary protocol.

A pseudonymous developer, GrassFedBitcoin, advocates for merging pull request #28408 into Bitcoin Core. This pull request would provide node operators with improved tools to filter inscriptions more effectively. GrassFedBitcoin argues that the lack of such filtering tools contributes to unnecessary blockchain congestion. He contends that past increases in the OP_RETURN limit were based on flawed assumptions and proposes a configurable default policy to discourage the use of Bitcoin for non-monetary data storage.

However, Blockstream CEO Adam Back challenges this proposal, framing inscription filtering as an ongoing “arms race.” He points out that spam data can be endlessly modified, requiring constant updates to filtering tools. This highlights the difficulty in effectively combating spam without potentially leading to a never-ending cycle of countermeasures.

Economist Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard, weighed in, suggesting funding a full-time developer dedicated to making Bitcoin spamming more difficult and expensive. He likens the situation to the ongoing battle against email spam, arguing that it’s a persistent challenge but one worth fighting. Ammous emphasizes that filtering spam is not censorship, as node operators already reject invalid transactions.

The discussion also includes suggestions to treat developers creating spam tools as “unwilling QA engineers,” and even proactive measures like overwhelming spam systems with counter-coding efforts. Mempool Research’s February 4th report further underscores the severity of the issue, projecting that inscription adoption could increase the average Bitcoin block size to 4MB, significantly higher than the current average of 1.5MB. The ongoing debate reflects the complex challenges facing the Bitcoin network as it evolves and adapts to new use cases.