Blockstream CEO Adam Back has launched a sharp critique against Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 110, warning that its proposed "spam limit" could damage Bitcoin's foundational design and stability. The proposal, introduced by Dathon Ohm in December of last year, suggests a temporary 12-month reduction in transaction data limits to filter out non-financial data, such as images and media files from Ordinals inscriptions, aiming to alleviate blockchain congestion.
Back, a prominent Bitcoin figure, argued that implementing such a consensus-level change is unjustified and equated it to an "attack." He stated that forcing upgrades without broad consensus resembles a "lynch mob" effort and could undermine Bitcoin's reputation as a reliable store of value and secure monetary system. He contends that spam is merely a nuisance and poses no significant security risk to the network.
The debate highlights a deepening rift within the Bitcoin community. Support for BIP-110 is reportedly growing among users of Bitcoin Knots, a node implementation whose market share has surged. Following Bitcoin Core v30's October 2025 change to lift the default 80-byte OP_RETURN restriction, Bitcoin Core's node share fell to 77.2%, while Bitcoin Knots' share rose to 22.7%. Approximately 7.5% of network nodes, primarily Bitcoin Knots users, currently support BIP-110.
However, the proposal faces a steep climb for approval, requiring support from at least 55% of validators. As of late January, it had secured backing from only about 3% of nodes, with none of the top 20 mining pools showing interest. Critics, including Bitcoin Core developer Luke Dashjr, argue that unnecessary data burdens node operators and diverts resources from Bitcoin's core financial mission. Researcher Matthew Kratter likened the potential impact of excessive spam to ivy slowly damaging a tree.
