Almost half of Bitcoin transactions are not monetary

A recent analysis of a researcher at the Bitcoin block explorer (BTC) Mempool.space, known in X as ‘Orange Surf’, reveals that 49% of the UTXO set (unbroken transactions outputs) of that network is composed of exits of less than 1,000 satoshis, while the “43% of the transactions of the last two weeks included an op_return inscriptions ».

That data, which They reflect a network use for non -financial purposesthey emerge in the midst of a technical and philosophical discussion that shakes the bitcoiner ecosystem about the fundamental purpose of Bitcoin, since it calls into question if the network created by Nakamoto must prioritize its function as money or allow alternative uses that could modify its original design.

In addition, and in this environment, cryptootics notified a notorious increase of Bitcoin Knots nodes operators, at the expense of a slight fall of those of Bitcoin Corealthough the latter continues to be the most used software.

A debate that transcends the technical

The data presented by ‘Orange Surf’ are given in the context of an intense debate between developers of Bitcoin Core, the most used software to interact with the Bitcoin network.

The proposal under discussion, led by Antoine Poinsot and reinserted by Peter Todd, seeks Eliminate the current limit of 83 bytes For operations used by Op_return, a type of transaction that allows us to embed non -financial data in the Bitcoin file, such as messages or metadata. Besides, It is proposed to allow multiple op_return outputs by transactionstandardizing its use to reflect current practices and simplify the software code.

Several of the main developers of the Bitcoin ecosystem support Peter Todd’s motion. Among them Gloria Zhao (one of the maintainers of the Bitcoin Core code), Jeremy Rubin, James O’Beirne (Jamesob), Michael Folksson (Michael1011) and Jameson LOPP.

However, this initiative has generated division, not only for its technical implications, but for what it represents for the essence of Bitcoin.

More voices that add to debate

Samson Mow, a figure known in the Bitcoin ecosystem for fostering its adoption, expressed its critical position on the proposed change: «Anyone can see that there is no consensus on relaxing Op_return’s limits. Advance with this change is to enter a slippery slope ».

Samson Mow deepened his questions to the modifications in Bitcoin Core by analyzing the reasoning he points out of those who defend them: «From what I see, their argument is that ‘it is already broken because people can make spam through Taproot, so we should normalize spam in op_return’».

With this statement, Mow suggests that the proponents of relaxing the boundaries of Op_return They are accepting the non -financial use of the network as an inevitable factinstead of seeking solutions that preserve the primary function of Bitcoin as a monetary system. This perspective reinforces its warning about the risks of advancing in a change that, in your opinion, would move the network away from its original purpose and consolidate practices that many consider harmful for long -term functioning.

The reactions to the ‘Orange Surf’ data reflect the tensions in the debate. Jason Hughes, Vice President of the Ocean Mining Pool, showed its concern by pointing out that these non -financial uses show “A failure of users and developers to respond properly to such attacks on the network”aggravated by fear and misinformation. According to Hughes, if not controlled, this could lead to “a centralized and useless ecosystem.”

Specifically, Hughes is pointing out the use of Bitcoin to store data not related to monetary transactions, such as inscriptions (which allow embedding files such as images or text directly on the network, popularized by protocols such as ordinals and runes) and data packed in Op_return.

These practices consume space in the blocks, Increase storage and processing demands for nodesand raise the transaction rates for users who do use bitcoin for financial purposes.

For Hughes, this constitutes an “attack” because it goes against Bitcoin’s vision as an efficient system for value transferstransforming it into a database for alternative uses that, in their opinion, should not have priority.

Another user in X contributed a vision that encapsulates the dilemma: «Obviously, there is a great discrepancy between how Satoshi designed Bitcoin, what Tradfi is promoting and how the current use can be seen in the chain. It is a trilema ». This statement underlines the tensions between the original Bitcoin design, the expectations of the traditional financial sector and the emerging practices of the users.

Arguments in favor of changes in Bitcoin Core

On the other hand, Erik de Smedt, CTO (direct technology) of a payment platform with Bitcoin, positioned itself in favor of eliminating Op_return restrictions, arguing that the current limit, although introduced with a noble intention, has proven to be ineffective and harmful.

“I do not approve the JPEG in the chain and I think contaminating it with them is an irresponsible behavior,” said Smedt, emphasizing that the proposal does not seek to encourage more unnecessary data, but to reduce the damage that already happens.

De Smedt explained that the current limit pushes users to hide data in other parts of transactionsas in the witness, which pollutes the UTXO set and forces nodes to use more memory and RAM.

In addition, he said that those who want to include data such as JPEG usually send their transactions directly to large mining pools, excluding smaller pools and contributing to the centralization of the mining. “This change is not about passing JPEG on the network, but about mitigating these problems,” he concluded.

On the other hand, the team behind OP_NET, a platform that promotes decentralized finance functionalities (defi) directly in the Bitcoin base layer, offered a different perspective: “Inscriptions have shown that people want to do more with Bitcoin.” This point of view denotes its favorable position for the network to evolve to include broader use cases, a circumstance that endorsed for the data shared by ‘Orange Surf’.

In such a way, the debate on the use of Bitcoin as a database or as a monetary system remains open, and the decisions made by Bitcoin Core developers could have a lasting impact on the direction that the network takes in the future.