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The Ordinals, Inscriptions, and BIP-110 controversy

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The Ordinals, Inscriptions, and BIP-110 controversy is the most actively-debated Bitcoin protocol dispute of 2024-2026. Ordinals (Casey Rodarmor, January 2023) enabled arbitrary data inscription on individual satoshis via the Taproot witness; Runes, BRC-20, and other inscription protocols extended the pattern, producing heavy blockspace consumption by non-monetary data and periodic fee spikes. A minimalist camp advocates filtering proposals such as BIP-110 (with predecessor BIP-444) to limit non-monetary data; a liberalist camp defends Bitcoin's permissionless properties and cites the fee-revenue benefit for the long-term security budget. The dispute has produced explicit hard-fork threats from Ordinals proponents and accusations of network censorship from filtering opponents — often compared to the 2017 Block Size Wars in intensity, but distinct in being about what counts as valid block content rather than block size. As of 2026-05-15, BIP-110 is in active debate with no consensus formed. A parallel relay-policy front opened in 2025: Bitcoin Core v30 (October 2025) removed the default OP_RETURN data-carrier limit, and the backlash drove a migration to Bitcoin Knots (which keeps the limit) that peaked near 25% of reachable nodes. Distinct from Network capacity and fee-market critiques — the analytical throughput question; this is the event-level dispute over the filtering proposal.

Why this note matters

The Ordinals/BIP-110 controversy is the most-publicly-visible Bitcoin protocol dispute of the post-2024 period. It has produced:

  • Periodic fee spikes that have substantially affected ordinary-user transaction economics
  • Explicit hard-fork threats from prominent Ordinals proponents
  • Renewed framing of Bitcoin’s purpose (sound-money vs permissionless-data-layer)
  • Pool-filtering experiments and community pushback
  • Substantial impact on the long-term security budget question (per Long-term security budget)

The note matters because:

  • It engages the specific contested matter at the BIP-110 level rather than the broader analytical question of throughput
  • It surfaces the named participants (Rodarmor, Ohm, others) and their substantive positions
  • It distinguishes the event-level controversy (live BIP-110 dispute) from the analytical critique (structural throughput question)
  • It articulates the load-bearing positions on each side and where the dispute remains genuinely live

The defensible position: this is the most-active Bitcoin protocol controversy of 2026 and warrants careful event-level tracking. The dispute may or may not resolve via BIP-110-adjacent activation; the broader question of Bitcoin’s permissible block content remains contested regardless of any specific BIP outcome.

What happened

A condensed event-level chronicle. See Network capacity and fee-market critiques for the structural-throughput analytical framing.

January 2023 — Ordinals launch. Casey Rodarmor publishes the Ordinals protocol, which assigns ordinal numbers to individual satoshis and enables arbitrary data inscription using the Taproot witness (introduced via the Taproot upgrade activated November 2021). Inscriptions can contain images, text, JSON metadata, video, and other arbitrary content.

Q1-Q2 2023 — Inscription explosion. Ordinals usage scales rapidly. Block utilization rises substantially; fees periodically spike into the $20-200+/transaction range during peak inscription activity. Adjacent protocols emerge: BRC-20 tokens (March 2023; Casey Rodarmor and Domo); Inscriptions of various media types.

2023-2024 — Runes protocol launch. Rodarmor releases the Runes protocol (April 2024, coinciding with the fourth halving), providing an alternative fungible-token mechanism on Bitcoin distinct from BRC-20. Runes activity adds further blockspace pressure.

2023-2024 — Pool-level filtering experiments. Several mining pools experiment with filtering specific transaction patterns. Foundry USA, MARA Pool, and others publish positions on filtering policies. Community pushback from Ordinals proponents leads most pools to maintain non-filtering policies.

2024-2025 — BIP-444 and BIP-110 proposals. Conservative developers including Dathon Ohm propose protocol-level filtering mechanisms. BIP-444 is an early formulation; BIP-110 emerges as the principal contemporary proposal. The proposals aim to limit non-monetary data via consensus-level constraints on Taproot-witness content.

2025-2026 — Public dispute intensifies. Ordinals proponents (including prominent developers and protocol-Twitter voices) issue explicit threats to hard-fork Bitcoin if BIP-110-style filtering activates. Minimalist proponents counter with accusations that unlimited blockspace-for-data threatens Bitcoin’s decentralization and full-node operability. The dispute has not produced a soft-fork activation as of 2026-05-15 but remains live.

2025 — the OP_RETURN / Bitcoin Core v30 front. The dispute opened a second, relay-policy front. After a multi-year developer debate (Peter Todd’s proposal dates to 2023), Bitcoin Core merged and shipped in version 30 (October 2025) a change removing the default ~80-byte cap on OP_RETURN data-carrier outputs — raising the default -datacarriersize to ~100,000 bytes — backed by a signed statement from ~31 Core contributors. Opponents (Luke Dashjr, who called it “malicious code”; Nick Szabo, who broke a years-long silence to warn of node-operator legal exposure) argued it invited arbitrary and potentially illegal data into relayed transactions. Because the change is relay policy, not consensus, the protest took the form of client migration rather than a fork: Bitcoin Knots — which retains the strict limit — surged from ~2% of reachable nodes in January 2025 to a peak near 25% by mid-September 2025 before easing back to ~15-20% (see Alternative implementations). Core reversed a related plan to deprecate the configurability of the limit shortly before release, leaving node operators free to set their own policy.

Ongoing as of 2026-05-15. BIP-110 in active proposal-and-debate phase; no consensus has formed; multiple developer-mailing-list, Delving Bitcoin, and Bitcoin Optech threads track the ongoing dispute.

The contested matters

The dispute operates at several layers. Multiple substantive positions exist; each layer deserves engagement.

Layer 1: Is non-monetary data legitimate Bitcoin block content?

The minimalist position (led by Dathon Ohm and adjacent conservative developers):

  • Bitcoin’s protocol-level purpose is monetary; non-monetary data (JPEGs, video, memecoin-token-protocols) is outside that purpose
  • Non-monetary data degrades Bitcoin’s full-node operability by inflating the UTXO set and chain size
  • Permissionless does not mean limitless; Bitcoin already enforces consensus-level constraints (transaction format, block size, output validity) — extending consensus-level filtering for non-monetary content is consistent with the design philosophy
  • The data-inscription protocols are economically extractive: they consume blockspace at low value-per-byte while ordinary monetary transactions are priced out

The liberalist position (Ordinals/Runes proponents, including Rodarmor and adjacent voices):

  • Bitcoin’s permissionless nature is core to its value proposition; any consensus-level content-filtering is a form of censorship that undermines the permissionless property
  • The fee market is the appropriate mechanism for allocating blockspace: high-value-per-byte uses outbid low-value uses; there is no protocol-level case for distinguishing “legitimate” from “illegitimate” content
  • Inscriptions and Runes pay fees and contribute to the long-term security budget (per Long-term security budget); they support the network economics rather than parasitizing them
  • The “non-monetary data” framing is itself a values judgment; what counts as monetary is contested

The contested empirical question: does the data-bloat actually threaten decentralization? Minimalists cite full-node-operability concerns; liberalists cite ongoing chain-size manageability and ordinary-node growth.

Layer 2: What are the specific BIP-110 mechanics, and are they technically sound?

The technical specifics of BIP-110 (and predecessor BIP-444) are themselves contested:

  • What gets filtered: BIP-110 targets specific Taproot-witness patterns associated with inscriptions; the precise filtering boundary is technically debated (over-broad filtering risks blocking legitimate use; under-broad filtering accomplishes little)
  • How filtering activates: standard soft-fork BIP-9 / BIP-8 activation requires substantial mining-pool support; whether 90%+ pool support is achievable is itself contested
  • Forward-compatibility implications: filtering proposals may interact with future protocol features (covenants, post-quantum signatures) in ways not yet fully analyzed
  • The “Taproot has been used for things you didn’t expect” problem: Taproot’s witness was designed for flexible script paths; using it for arbitrary data was technically permitted but cuts against the design intent

Layer 3: The hard-fork-threat dimension

Some Ordinals/Runes proponents have publicly threatened to hard-fork Bitcoin if BIP-110-style filtering activates. This raises distinct concerns:

  • The credibility question: hard-fork threats have been issued at previous protocol disputes (Block Size Wars era); some held, some did not. The 2025-2026 threats vary in credibility based on which voices issue them
  • The history-of-failed-hard-forks pattern: Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV (the 2017 BCH and 2018 BSV splits) collapsed in market value relative to Bitcoin; the empirical track record of hard-fork attempts is unfavourable
  • The community-rupture concern: even if a hard-fork attempt fails commercially, the community-cultural rupture has lasting effects (visible in post-Block-Size-Wars discourse to this day)

Layer 4: The economic implications

The fee-market dimension is genuinely contested:

  • Ordinals-driven fee revenue has been substantial during peak inscription activity; the 2023-2024 inscription era produced sustained periods where fees were 30-60% of total miner revenue
  • The long-term security budget (per Long-term security budget) needs sustained fee revenue as the block subsidy declines; Ordinals demand is one source of that revenue
  • The displacement of ordinary monetary transactions during fee spikes is a real friction for ordinary users; the “Bitcoin can’t be used for coffee at peak Ordinals fees” framing captures legitimate UX concern
  • The empirical question of whether Ordinals demand is sustained or episodic — fashion-driven activity could collapse; structurally-driven activity could persist

Layer 5: Comparison to the 2017 Block Size Wars

The dispute is often compared to the 2017 Block Size Wars (see Block Size Wars - History). Similarities:

  • Intense community division along technical-philosophical lines
  • Hard-fork threats from one side
  • Pool-level positioning on specific filtering/upgrade policies
  • Substantial influence on broader Bitcoin discourse

Differences:

  • 2017 was about block-size capacity expansion (more space for transactions)
  • 2026 is about block-content filtering (constraining what content can occupy existing space)
  • 2017 produced sub-chain splits (BCH, BSV) that lost market value
  • 2026 has not (yet) produced a chain split

The comparison is instructive but the dispute is structurally distinct.

Where the dispute stands (as of 2026-05-15)

  • BIP-110: active in proposal-and-debate phase; no soft-fork activation underway; no clear consensus on whether to proceed
  • Ordinals usage: persistent at meaningful blockspace share; fee contribution variable but non-trivial
  • Pool filtering: most major pools maintain non-filtering policies; some have published positions on specific filtering experiments
  • Community-cultural state: highly divided; both camps actively mobilized; productive dialogue is partial but ongoing
  • Hard-fork threat credibility: contested; threats are public but commitment-credibility varies
  • The OP_RETURN / v30 relay-policy front: Bitcoin Core v30 (October 2025) relaxed the default OP_RETURN data-carrier limit; the change is live, and its principal lasting effect has been a durable Bitcoin Knots node-share of ~15-20% (down from a ~25% September-2025 peak) as a standing policy-protest constituency
  • Likely 2026-2028 trajectory: the dispute is unlikely to resolve cleanly; either an eventual BIP-110-adjacent activation (with attendant community-cultural cost) or a continued unresolved state. A hard-fork attempt is possible but would face the empirical pattern of past failed hard-forks.

Counter-arguments and tensions (criticisms of how this note frames the controversy)

The Controversies-section adaptation: where could the note’s framing of this specific controversy itself be criticized?

”The note treats both camps as substantively equivalent; they are not”

The framing concern: Multi-position fairness can obscure where evidence and analytical-rigor weight one side. If the minimalist camp’s full-node-operability concern is empirically valid and the liberalist camp’s censorship-framing is rhetorically inflated, treating them as substantively equivalent misrepresents the dispute.

Response: Valid concern. The note attempts steel-manned engagement with both positions while preserving where evidence weighs. Different readers will reach different conclusions about which side has the stronger case; the note’s job is to present each position fairly. Readers who already hold one position should engage the strongest version of the other rather than dismissing it.

”The ‘hard-fork threat’ framing is overstated”

The framing concern: Public hard-fork threats from a minority of vocal advocates do not represent a credible coordinated chain-split. Treating the threat dimension as a major aspect of the dispute may inflate its significance.

Response: Partially valid. The note distinguishes voiced-threats from credible-coordinated-action; the hard-fork dimension is included because public discourse on the topic foregrounds it, not because chain-split is imminent. The history of past hard-fork attempts (BCH, BSV) suggests low credibility for new attempts but cannot fully rule out future events.

”The note’s treatment of Dathon Ohm and other named conservatives gives them disproportionate visibility”

The framing concern: Names create visibility. By naming specific minimalist-camp developers, the note may amplify their position relative to less-vocal participants. Similar concern applies to the liberalist-camp naming.

Response: Real but bounded. Named participants are those who have publicly authored or advocated specific proposals (BIP-110 authorship; Ordinals/Runes development). Naming reflects participation in the public dispute; less-vocal participants are by definition less visible. The note doesn’t claim the named participants are more correct than others; they are simply the ones whose positions are concretely visible.

”The comparison to Block Size Wars over-simplifies”

The framing concern: Comparing 2026 BIP-110 to 2017 Block Size Wars risks producing false-pattern recognition. The disputes have distinct structures; treating them as parallel may obscure important differences.

Response: Acknowledged. The note distinguishes the structures explicitly (block-size capacity vs block-content filtering); the comparison is useful for the intensity-and-community-rupture dimension only. Readers should not assume the disputes resolve in the same way.

Verdict: Remains genuinely contested as of 2026-05-15; outcome uncertain over 2026-2028 horizon

The Ordinals/BIP-110 controversy is the most-active live Bitcoin protocol dispute. Both camps remain mobilized; technical and philosophical disagreements remain substantive; the dispute’s trajectory is genuinely uncertain.

A serious assessment:

  • The data-bloat empirical concern is real but contested in magnitude
  • The censorship-resistance philosophical concern is real but contested in applicability to content-filtering
  • The fee-market economic interaction is real and pulls in both directions
  • The hard-fork-threat dimension is real but historical-precedent-low-credibility
  • The community-cultural cost of the dispute is real regardless of how it resolves

This is a controversy worth tracking actively. The 2026-2028 BIP-110 proposal-and-debate trajectory will be the principal data-generating period. The dispute will likely persist regardless of specific BIP outcomes.

Open questions for further development

  • BIP-110’s specific filtering mechanics are technically contested; what’s the actual technical analysis on over-broad-vs-under-broad filtering risks?
  • Mining-pool positions on filtering have evolved; what’s the current published landscape across the top 6-10 pools?
  • The fee-revenue interaction with Ordinals demand is empirically tracked but the long-horizon trajectory is uncertain — how does the controversy interact with the Long-term security budget question?
  • The hard-fork-threat credibility is contested; what would shift the credibility level meaningfully?
  • The comparison to Block Size Wars is partial; what’s the right ongoing-comparison framework as both disputes evolve?

Canonical sources for this note

Primary technical sources:

  • BIP-110 specification and discussion threads (Delving Bitcoin; bitcoin-dev mailing list)
  • BIP-444 (predecessor) and adjacent filtering proposals
  • Casey Rodarmor’s Ordinals protocol documentation and Runes protocol release
  • Bitcoin Optech newsletter — ongoing coverage of the dispute

Live-dispute coverage:

  • Bitcoin community divided over controversial BIP-110 proposal (icoholder)
  • The Bitcoin community is abuzz with the BIP-110 proposal (futunn)
  • Bitcoin soft fork sparks fury over legal threats; Core devs face backlash (TradingView/Cryptonews)
  • Bitcoin Magazine ongoing coverage
  • Bitcoin Optech newsletter

Adjacent technical context:

Named developer engagement:

  • Dathon Ohm — BIP-110 advocacy
  • Casey Rodarmor — Ordinals and Runes protocol design
  • Various bitcoin-dev mailing list threads
  • Various Delving Bitcoin forum discussions

As of 2026-05-15: BIP-110 in active proposal phase; no soft-fork activation underway; both camps mobilized; dispute trajectory uncertain.

Paired Criticism note (cross-section):

Within the Controversies section:

History-section coordination:

Criticisms-section adjacency:

The sub-MOC home:

Graph View

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