Blockstream CEO Adam Back Rejects BIP-110 Proposal to Curb Bitcoin Ordinals

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has publicly rejected Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110, cautioning that the measure designed to limit Ordinals-style data could damage Bitcoin's reputation more than it helps.

The proposal, introduced by pseudonymous developer Dathon Ohm in December, aims to temporarily restrict data storage in Bitcoin transactions to combat what critics call "data abuse" flooding the network with images, videos, and audio files. Nearly 7.5% of Bitcoin nodes running Bitcoin Knots clients have signaled support for the change.

Back described BIP-110 as "an attack" on Bitcoin's credibility and dismissed spam as merely "an annoyance" without genuine security implications. He characterized the push as "a lynch mob attempt" to force changes lacking broad consensus, despite acknowledging Bitcoin's primary purpose as sound money.

The proposal includes a 12-month evaluation period to allow developers time to craft permanent solutions. Back raised concerns about potential unintended consequences, including the possibility of freezing funds by making certain transaction outputs unspendable, though Ohm maintains the proposal carefully avoids impacting known use cases.

The debate intensified after Bitcoin Core removed the 80-byte limit on OP_RETURN functions in October 2024, enabling more non-financial transactions. Bitcoin Core's node market share subsequently dropped from 98% to 77.2%, while Bitcoin Knots rose to 22.7%.