Bitcoin Standard Author Funds Anti-Spam Development
Saifedean Ammous, renowned economist and author of “The Bitcoin Standard,” has publicly endorsed a project to curb Bitcoin spam inscriptions. He pledged to contribute funds towards a dedicated developer focused on making Bitcoin spamming significantly more expensive and challenging.
This initiative stems from a growing concern within the Bitcoin community regarding the increasing volume of spam inscriptions bloating the blockchain. Developer GrassFedBitcoin spearheaded the call, advocating for the merging of pull request #28408 into Bitcoin Core. This pull request aims to enhance inscription filtering capabilities for node operators, reducing the impact of spam.
GrassFedBitcoin argues that the lack of robust filtering tools contributes to unnecessary blockchain bloat and undermines Bitcoin’s (BTC) primary function as a monetary protocol. He contends that past increases in the OP_RETURN limit were based on flawed assumptions and advocates for configurable, default policies that discourage non-monetary data storage, like JPEGs.
However, Blockstream CEO Adam Back expressed reservations, likening inscription filtering to an unending “arms race” due to the adaptability of spam coding techniques. He predicts a continuous need for updated filtering tools to counter evolving spam strategies.
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Ammous Draws Email Spam Analogy
Ammous framed the Bitcoin spam issue as analogous to email spam—a persistent problem that society combats without abandoning email itself. He believes actively working to increase the cost of spamming is vital, stating: “It’s not easy, but it’s worth trying to help bankrupt the spammers faster.”
He clarified that counter-spam measures are not censorship, emphasizing that nodes already reject invalid transactions. Ammous even proposed more aggressive strategies, including “deprecating” the work of spam tool developers and actively hiring counter-developers to overwhelm spam systems.
The debate highlights ongoing tensions over Bitcoin’s intended use. The escalating inscription congestion is fueling demands for technical solutions, along with sharper criticism of those defending the practice of Bitcoin spam.
A Mempool Research report from February 4 suggested that inscription adoption could significantly increase the Bitcoin network’s average block size, potentially reaching 4 MB, a substantial increase from the current average of 1.5 MB.
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