Bitcoin Core Devs' Statement Ignites Network Policy Clash

Bitcoin Core Devs’ Joint Statement Sparks Debate Over Network Use and Policy

A recent joint statement by 31 Bitcoin Core developers has ignited controversy across the Bitcoin community. The statement, published on June 6 on the official Bitcoin Core website, addresses transaction relay policies amid the growing debate over the use of Bitcoin for non-monetary purposes—particularly data inscriptions using OP_Return.

The developers emphasized a neutral stance, acknowledging Bitcoin’s censorship-resistant nature. They stated that while they are not endorsing non-financial data on the blockchain, they accept that Bitcoin will inevitably be used in ways not all users agree with.

“This is not endorsing or condoning non-financial data usage,” the letter read, “but accepting that as a censorship-resistant system, Bitcoin can and will be used for use cases not everyone agrees on.”

The devs asserted that Bitcoin is a user-defined system and that developers aren’t in a position to enforce what software or policies the network adopts. They argued that the freedom to run any node software is key to preserving Bitcoin’s resistance to coercion.

The response was polarized.

Source: Bitcoin Core Project

Some Bitcoiners welcomed the clarification with an “ACK,” signaling approval. Others, however, voiced strong criticism.

JAN3 CEO Samson Mow accused the developers of enabling blockchain spam. “It’s disingenuous to just say ‘it is what it is now, too bad,’” he commented. “Core devs have gradually changed the network to allow spam and now want to remove remaining barriers,” Mow added.

The debate has intensified since May 8, when Bitcoin Core developers removed a long-standing data limit, a move some saw as opening the door to non-monetary use cases.

Defending the developers' stance, Casa co-founder Jameson Lopp argued that the joint letter brought necessary transparency. “When devs made individual statements, Bitcoin Core was accused of poor PR. Now they publish a joint message, and people still complain,” he said.

Source: James Check

The letter also highlighted goals for transaction relay policies: helping miners predict which transactions are likely to be mined, speeding up block propagation, and improving fee-awareness in the network.

Still, not everyone was convinced.

Core developer Luke Dashjr blasted the rationale behind the relay goals. “Predicting what will be mined is a centralizing goal. Expecting spam is defeatist. Helping spam propagate is harmful,” he said.

Others like Bitcoiner Carl Horton took a more ideological stance: “It’s Bit Coin, not Bit Bucket. It’s a peer-to-peer electronic cash system—not a general-purpose data store.”

As the Bitcoin network continues to evolve, the tension between its foundational monetary purpose and emerging use cases shows no sign of slowing down.