Bitcoin Core v30, scheduled for release in October 2025, will remove the long-standing limit on OP_RETURN data, allowing nearly 4 MB of arbitrary information per transaction. Supporters claim this change aligns Bitcoin with its censorship-resistant ethos and cleans up harmful workarounds like Ordinals, but critics warn it invites spam, bloats the blockchain, and opens the door for illicit material, including CSAM, to be stored immutably. Such a development could damage Bitcoin’s reputation, expose node operators to legal risk, and provide governments or institutions with justification to clamp down on the network.
In response, a growing number of Bitcoiners are running Bitcoin Knots, a conservative alternative that enforces stricter data limits and filtering options. Personally, I have been running Knots for over four months to ensure my nodes don’t relay illicit content, and I have stopped supporting companies like River or Blockstream that endorse Core v30. Looking forward, institutions such as BlackRock may prefer a “clean” Bitcoin and could even legitimise a fork to protect their investments. To future-proof the network, Bitcoiners must act now — rejecting unlimited data storage and defending Bitcoin’s true purpose as sound, sovereign money.