Bitcoin Core vs Knots: Why Developers Are Fighting Over a Coming Change - Ep. 918

Unchained

Laura Shin

Business News, News, Tech News

4.6 • 1.3K Ratings

🗓️ 7 October 2025

⏱️ 65 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

🧾️ Download transcript

Summary

On Monday, bitcoin hit a new all-time high of over $126,000, but Bitcoin’s biggest fight right now isn’t about price; it’s about purpose. Since 2023, image files and meme tokens have clogged the network, spiking fees and making everyday payments expensive. Bitcoin Core wants to lift an 80-byte data limit that's existed since 2014. Bitcoin Knots disagrees — and has built code to enforce a different limit. Should Bitcoin stay a payments network, or evolve into a platform that stores everything from NFTs to memecoins to experimental layer 2 protocols? Blockstream CEO Adam Back and Bitcoin and Lightning developer Chris Guida debate whether removing limits on OP_RETURN protects Bitcoin from what they call “spam,” or opens the floodgates to it. Plus: the real lesson from 2014 when Vitalik Buterin left Bitcoin, why miners can bypass any filter by renting hash rate, and whether 22% of nodes running different code actually matters in a decentralized network. Thank you to our sponsors! Mantle Aptos Guests: Chris Guida, Bitcoin and Lightning Ecosystem dev and Educator Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream Timestamps: 🎬 0:00 Intro ⚙️ 1:37 What the Core vs. Knots debate is really about 🧩 4:46 Why “spam” filtering and “censorship” aren’t the same 💾 7:28 How NFTs, ordinals, and BRC-20s created the “spam” problem 🧱 8:51 The Genesis block message vs. today’s onchain data 🔍 13:27 What op_return does and why its size limit matters ⚔️ 22:04 Why the proposed change has split the Bitcoin community 📈 26:25 Can Bitcoin stay censorship-resistant while filtering “spam”? 💣 30:26 Do economic incentives make “spam” filters useless? 🧰 34:17 Why some believe filters still work to protect blockspace 💰 36:05 Would higher fees from non-payment data help miners secure Bitcoin? 🧮 42:06 Does more data make it harder to run a node? 🧭 46:04 Can Bitcoin fight storage data without hurting its core principles? ⚡ 50:37 What counts as a “real” layer 2 on Bitcoin 🧱 55:55 How much support the Knots software actually has 🧩 1:00:35 Could this debate cause a Bitcoin chain split? 🔚 1:04:22 Closing thoughts on what’s next for the network Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	If Bitcoin has to be saved by cramming data into blocks and 100% of the activity on Bitcoin is data and 0% of the activity on Bitcoin is payments,
0:10.0	then can you really call Bitcoin money anymore?
0:13.0	I think there's a lot of people mad about spam and they are wanting to fight somebody,
0:20.0	and so, you know, punching at developers or something,
0:22.6	but I think to realistically even do something predictable about spam,
0:26.8	you have to think forward about the economic implications
0:31.4	and the probable next actions of your opponent.
0:35.8	You can't play chess, not looking more than one step.
0:37.8	Of course.
0:38.0	Right.
0:38.6	Hi, everyone.
0:42.6	Welcome to Unchained.
0:43.6	You're an Elhype resource for all things crypto.
0:45.4	I'm your host, Laura Shin.
0:47.4	Today's episode is brought to you by Mantle and Optos.
0:50.7	Mantle is pioneering blockchain for banking of revolutionary new category at the intersection of TradFi and Web3.
0:58.3	Follow Mantle underscore official to learn more.
1:02.3	Aptos is the no-compromise infrastructure for global financial markets, fast, reliable, and 100 times more cost-e efficient than other blockchains. See for yourself
1:12.6	why Aptos is the chain of choice for institutions, users, and developers alike at the Aptos
1:18.7	Experience, October 15th and 16th in Brooklyn. Today's episode is about Bitcoin Core versus Bitcoin
1:26.3	Nodz. Here to discuss are Chris G Guida, Bitcoin and Lightning ecosystem dev and educator,
1:31.4	and Adam back, CEO of Blockstream.
	...

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