Blockstream CEO Critiques Proposal to Limit Bitcoin Transactions
Adam Back, the CEO of Blockstream, has voiced his concerns over proposals aimed at curbing what some label as “spam” transactions in Bitcoin. He argues that the suggested changes might unintentionally compromise the network’s overall reliability.
The Bitcoin Improvement Proposal, known as BIP-110, was introduced by an anonymous Bitcoin developer named Dathon Ohm back in December. Current data reveals that roughly 7.5% of Bitcoin nodes, which are all Bitcoin Not clients, have adapted to BIP-110.
This proposal seeks to temporarily limit the quantity of data that can be included in Bitcoin transactions, aiming to cut down on the influx of various media types—like images, videos, and audio—that some regard as “data abuse.” While Back acknowledges the importance of Bitcoin as a “sound currency,” he expressed in a post on X that he sees little merit in altering the consensus mechanism. He warned that BIP-110 could undermine Bitcoin’s reputation as a reliable store of value and secure payment system.
He described the movement behind BIP-110 as a “lynch mob attempt” to enforce changes without broad consensus, insisting that spam merely serves as “a nuisance,” rather than presenting a significant security risk to the network.
According to BIP-110, it’s meant as a short-term measure to tackle arbitrary data and is designed to give the Bitcoin community a year to evaluate its effects while developers work toward longer-lasting solutions.
Support for BIP-110 is growing, particularly among validators operating the Bitcoin Knot, which began gaining traction against Bitcoin Core in late 2025. At that point, Bitcoin Core developers lifted the 80-byte restriction on the OP_RETURN function, resulting in a rush of non-financial transactions on the Bitcoin network.
Since the OP_RETURN debate stirred controversy regarding the types of transactions permitted, Bitcoin Core’s dominance among Bitcoin nodes has dropped from about 98% to 77.2%, while Bitcoin Knot’s share rose to 22.7%.
Back, who had previously opposed the removal of that 80-byte cap on the OP_RETURN function, stated in September that transactions resembling Ordinals “have no place in the timechain.” He also cautioned that measures like BIP-110 could potentially lock up funds by rendering certain unused transaction outputs (UTXOs) inaccessible.
Ohm did acknowledge the possibility of funds being frozen but stressed that the proposal is constructed to minimize impacts on recognized use cases.
Those in favor of non-financial transactions, such as Leonidas from the Ordinals initiative, argue that their ecosystem has generated over $500 million in transaction fees, which helps bolster Bitcoin’s security—a particularly pressing concern as mining block rewards are halved every four years.
Bitcoin Ordinal Activity Faces Decline
However, data from Dune Analytics indicates that the fees generated by Ordinals will likely yield daily profits for Bitcoin miners of under $10,000 by the close of 2025, posing challenges for reliance on non-financial transactions for sustainable income.
The typical volume of such transactions peaked more than two years ago, with Bitcoin miners earning close to $10 million in fees on December 16, 2023. Since then, fees have generally trended downward, aside from a few brief spikes.
