Bitcoin Core Developers Spark Global Debate Over Transaction Relay Policy

The Bitcoin community is currently embroiled in a heated debate following a joint statement released by 31 Bitcoin Core developers on June 6. The statement addressed the recent changes to the transaction relay policy, which has sparked a global discussion among Bitcoin enthusiasts and developers.

The developers argued that while the new transaction relay policy might open up more non-financial use cases, protecting censorship resistance remains a core principle of the blockchain. They emphasized that the Bitcoin network is defined by its users, who have the ultimate freedom to choose how they utilize the blockchain, whether for financial or non-financial purposes. Therefore, the developers stated that they are not in a position to dictate the software or policies that users choose to adopt.

Several Bitcoiners have opposed the developers’ stance, viewing it as a deviation from the blockchain’s original intended function. On the other hand, some have defended the developers’ viewpoint, leading to a global debate among Bitcoiners. The core of the debate revolves around the transaction relay policy, which is a fundamental aspect of a Bitcoin node. Nodes relay block transactions and validations to other nodes to ensure that the blockchain remains updated across all nodes.

On May 5, core contributors to the Bitcoin network announced that the next upgrade will remove the 80-byte data cap for transaction relays. This change would allow users to embed larger data segments more efficiently. The developers argued that users have found ways to circumvent the data limit, which can potentially harm the network. Therefore, retiring a deterrent that no longer deters large-data inscriptions will enable the fee market to arbitrate competing demands.

The announcement sparked a debate, with some considering the move logical, while others viewed it as an open invitation to spam transactions. In their statement, the Bitcoin core developers defended their decision to remove the data cap for transaction relays. They noted that it is their responsibility to ensure that their software is efficient and reliable, contributing to Bitcoin’s success as a decentralized digital currency. They stated that transaction relay has three major goals: predicting which transactions will be mined, preventing denial-of-service (DoS) attacks, and speeding up transaction propagation to prevent large miners from gaining an unfair advantage.

Ask Aime: What does the Bitcoin Core developers' joint statement mean for the future of Bitcoin?

The developers clarified that they are not endorsing or condoning non-financial data usage but accepting that as a censorship-resistant system, Bitcoin can and will be used for use cases not everyone agrees on. They added that while they are aware of the dissent among Bitcoiners, they sincerely believe the move is in the best interest of Bitcoin and its users.

Among those opposed to the transaction relay policy change is Bitcoin core developer and OCEAN Bitcoin mining pool creator Luke Dashjr. In a post, Dashjr noted that the goals of transaction relay listed are basically all wrong, predicting what will be mined is a centralizing goal, expecting spam to be mined is defeatism, and helping spam propagate is harmful. He added that the statement portrays the abuse of the blockchain through spam transactions as legitimate use cases instead of treating them as DoS attacks.

Pseudonymous user SatsScholar, who runs Bitcoin Knots, a specialized version of Bitcoin Core maintained by Dashjr, called the new relay policy an ideological drift, noting that Core’s new stance essentially says, “if someone pays enough, any use is valid.” Several Bitcoiners echoed SatsScholar’s views, including Dennis Porter, CEO of Bitcoin mining advocacy firm Satoshi Action Fund, who said the policy change is “absolutely condoning bloat.”

Dissenters of the proposal also include miners, one of whom claimed that the removal of the data cap risks diluting Bitcoin’s monetary focus, overburdening future nodes, further centralizing power, possibly threatening scalability, and fracturing the Bitcoin community’s faith. Jameson Lopp, co-founder and chief security officer of Bitcoin wallet Casa, was among those who supported the developers’ statement, noting that Core Devs are a group saying they can’t force anyone to run code they don’t like, here is their thinking on relay policy and network health.