Blockstream CEO Adam Back has criticized a proposal to limit non-financial data on Bitcoin, warning it could damage the network’s credibility. The Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP-110) seeks to temporarily reduce transaction data size to curb spam like Ordinals inscriptions. Support for the measure is growing among nodes running Bitcoin Knots software, whose market share has risen as Bitcoin Core’s has fallen following a prior protocol change. While proponents note non-financial transactions have generated over $500 million in fees, recent data shows daily inscription fees have dropped sharply from their peak.
Blockstream CEO Adam Back has opposed a proposal aimed at reducing Ordinals-like “spam” on Bitcoin, warning the fix could harm the network’s credibility. The Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP-110) was proposed by pseudonymous developer Dathon Ohm in December.
The proposal seeks to temporarily shrink transaction data to reduce “data abuse” flooding the network. Back said it wasn’t worth a consensus-level change, calling it “an attack” on Bitcoin’s credibility.
Nearly 7.5% of Bitcoin nodes have signaled readiness for BIP-110, all using the Bitcoin Knots client. Bitcoin Core’s node share has fallen from about 98% to 77.2% since it removed an 80-byte data limit last October.
Back previously stated that Ordinals-like spam has “no place in the timechain.” However, he warned BIP-110 could freeze funds by rendering some transaction outputs unspendable.
Ohm acknowledged freezing funds is theoretically possible but stated the proposal avoids affecting known use cases. Proponents note non-financial transactions have contributed over $500 million in fees to Bitcoin’s security.
Data shows Ordinals inscription fees were netting less than $10,000 daily for miners by late 2025. Activity peaked over two years ago when miners collected almost $10 million in fees on a single day.
