OP_RETURN Controversy Continues: 'Gross Media' May Tank Bitcoin Prices

Developers have failed to reach a consensus on lifting OP_RETURN guardrails in the upcoming release of the default Bitcoin Core client. Ocean Mining’s Bitcoin Mechanic claims that this “gross media/malware” stored in Bitcoin’s blockchain could affect the willingness of institutions to run nodes, thereby impacting prices.

OP_RETURN Debate Continues: ‘Gross Media’ Might Sway Institutions Away From Running Bitcoin Nodes

The upcoming changes in Bitcoin Core, which will raise OP_RETURN limits and lift the guardrails for users to embed arbitrary data into the Bitcoin blockchain, continue to ignite debates within the community.

Bitcoin Mechanic, of Ocean Mining, has criticized the move that will be adopted in the upcoming release of Bitcoin Core, stating that changing the default size of the OP_Return field to 100 KB might affect the adoption of bitcoin nodes by institutions.

On social media, Bitcoin Mechanic stressed:

No one is going to run nodes if archival data contains tonnes of gross media/malware plainly embedded in the chain.

Expanding on this, he stressed that after the upcoming core client gets released, institutions might be under pressure for neither interacting with bitcoin nor running nodes “due to outrage over the newly solicited contents of the chain.”

This could consequently create a negative backlash, spurring a price drop as the institutional system abandons bitcoin due to concerns about being linked to this content. “Their dramatic departure and disavowal of the ecosystem as a whole tanks the price and the infighting and finger pointing leads to most just walking away,” he assessed.

While this content, which some have classified as spam, can be inserted even today, Bitcoin Mechanic claims that this update will make it commonplace.

Peter Todd, a Bitcoin developer, stated that there is content that can be classified as dubious already stored in the form of inscriptions on Bitcoin. “There’s nothing we can do to stop that other than using Bitcoin enough that fees price them out,” he concluded.

Read more: Bitcoin Core to Lift OP_RETURN Guardrails in Next Update: Move Is ‘Aligned With Bitcoin’s Ethos’

Read more: Decoding OP_RETURN in Bitcoin and What’s the Big Deal?