Saifedean Ammous, best known for The Bitcoin Standard, says he’s willing to fund efforts to make spamming the network more costly. His comment comes amid growing concern that non-financial data — particularly image-based inscriptions — are clogging up block space and deviating from Bitcoin’s original monetary purpose.

The technical friction centers around a proposed code change that would let node operators block certain data types more easily. The developer pushing for the update, known online as GrassFedBitcoin, argues that the lack of filtering options contributes to unnecessary bloat. “No one wants their node relaying pictures,” he claimed, criticizing past decisions that expanded how much extraneous data could be included in transactions.

Not everyone agrees with taking direct action. Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, likened the situation to a never-ending game of cat and mouse. He warned that spam can easily be disguised using clever coding tricks, meaning any filtering tools would need constant updates.

Ammous, however, sees it more like email spam — messy but manageable. He says refusing to relay junk data isn’t censorship but rather a valid choice for node operators, who already reject invalid transactions. He even suggested hiring developers to disrupt tools built to abuse the system.

This isn’t just a technical quarrel. With block sizes already averaging 1.5MB and expected to balloon to 4MB due to these inscriptions, the Bitcoin community is being forced to reconsider what belongs on its base layer — and who gets to decide.

The post Should Bitcoin Be for Money Only? Developers Say Yes appeared first on Coindoo.

---

Filed under: Bitcoin - @ May 18, 2025 10:01 pm