- Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr has proposed a “fix” for Bitcoin Ordinals, which involves eliminating them
- Dashjr called Ordinals inscriptions “spam” that exploit a vulnerability on the network
- Dashjr’s plans have resistance from Ordinals enthusiasts committed to continuing the practice.
Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr has claimed he has a “fix” for Bitcoin Ordinals…a fix that basically involves killing it. Dashjr’s controversial stance on Ordinals was revealed on X yesterday where the long-time developer opined that inscriptions, the process where data such as images and text are written onto the Bitcoin blockchain, are “exploiting a vulnerability” in the Bitcoin Core and do nothing but “spam the blockchain.” Dashjr has promised to “fix” the issue by removing the ability for anyone to add inscriptions, but his efforts may be wasted as Ordinals fans have vowed to continue the practice.
Inscriptions Are “Exploiting a Vulnerability” in Bitcoin
Ordinals took off earlier this year, with the resultant spike in traffic causing a huge bottleneck in the Bitcoin blockchain and a rise in transaction prices to bull market levels as a result. The suitability of Ordinals to Bitcoin’s core network has stirred debate, and Dashjr, who has been developing Bitcoin code since 2011, has had enough:
PSA: “Inscriptions” are exploiting a vulnerability in #Bitcoin Core to spam the blockchain. Bitcoin Core has, since 2013, allowed users to set a limit on the size of extra data in transactions they relay or mine (`-datacarriersize`). By obfuscating their data as program code,…
— Luke Dashjr (@LukeDashjr) December 6, 2023
Dashjr’s actions stirred a hornets’ nest, with one respondent on X, BennyTheDev, calling him out for being a “btc maxi cult member from the get-go,” but noted that the changes to the protocol don’t impact Bitcoin itself:
What that basically is is an option to opt-out from executing transactions that have certain sizes or size patterns within scripts and acts purely on client level. It’s not a change in bitcoin itself.
BennyTheDev noted that if DashJr tried to force the measure on miners and node operators they would simply “turn this off…because it imho isn’t “precise science” and could harm miner’s income stream, even those not Ordinal-related.”
One Ordinals fan posted that he would carry on using the service, summing up the thoughts of many:
Dear Luke,
Whether it gets added to Bitcoin Core v27 or not (hint: it won’t) the inscriptions will never stop. People will pay for them and miners will mine them.
As long as the market demands it, there is nothing you can do to stop it. You will save yourself years of…
— trevor.btc (@TO) December 6, 2023
