Bitcoin Core developers have agreed to eliminate the long-standing data cap on OP_RETURN outputs in the protocol’s upcoming release—a move to shift how data is stored on the Bitcoin blockchain and stir community controversy.
According to the announcement by Bitcoin Core developer Greg Sanders, the change will permit relaying and mining transactions containing OP_RETURN outputs larger than 80 bytes. It will also remove restrictions on the number of such outputs per transaction. This proposal, part of Pull Request 32359, was initiated by Peter Todd at the request of Chaincode Labs. The original 80-byte cap aimed to promote responsible on-chain behaviour but is now considered outdated, as users have found workarounds that may harm the network’s efficiency
“Large-data inscriptions are happening regardless and can be done in more or less abusive ways; the cap merely channels them into more opaque forms that cause damage to the network,”
Sanders said. He highlighted benefits such as a cleaner UTXO set, increased network consistency, and alignment with current usage trends as reasons for supporting the removal.
Three paths were considered: maintaining the cap, raising it, or removing it entirely. Developers ultimately chose the complete removal, noting that the decision received “broad, though not unanimous” support.
“Many users find this to be an undesirable change for a number of reasons,” said Bitcoin advocate Samson Mow on social platform X. He urged users who disagree with the direction to remain on version 29.0 or switch to alternative node implementations. Marty Bent, managing partner at Ten31 Fund, criticized the proposal’s process, stating, “There is no consensus at the moment on this OP_RETURN issue.”
Other critics voiced concerns that the shift prioritizes data use over Bitcoin’s core financial utility and raised questions about the transparency of the proposal’s backers.
Meanwhile, in 2024, the Bitcoin Core developers introduced a new policy that disclosed “critical bugs” to improve the communication of Bitcoin security vulnerabilities.
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