The upgrade has caused disagreement in the community. Some members, like Eric Gens, have given a serious warning about using this version because it might lead to more spam and possible legal problems.
At the same time, Blockstream CEO Adam Back supported the update, saying it includes important security fixes from the “200 best experts in the world. ”
Technical Changes Spark a Debate About What Bitcoin Is Really For purpose
The update lowered the minimum relay fee from 1 to 0. 1 satoshis per vByte and added support for TRUC transactions to make the Lightning Network better.
Bitcoin Core has said that in two weeks, it will reveal five minor security issues that were fixed in version 30. Versions 27x and older are no longer supported.
The release is an important change for Bitcoin since the block size debates. The alternative version called Bitcoin Knots has increased its share of the network, now making up 28% of the nodes, up from only 67 nodes in March 2024.
Trezor’s chief technology officer, Pavol Rusnak, said he’s using Bitcoin Core version 30, but some people are warning users not to update.
Earlier this month, Nick Szabo said that the recent bigger limit for OP_RETURN could lead to more non-money data being added to Bitcoin. He believes that Bitcoin should be used for money, not as a place to store random data.
The upgrade completely removed support for the old BDB wallet. This means some features related to wallets are gone, and users now need to switch to the new descriptor wallet format.
The main disagreement is about what Bitcoin is really for. Last month, Leonidas, who leads the Ordinals group, said he might support a new version of Bitcoin if the developers try to block certain transactions. He has backing from miners who control more than half of Bitcoin’s computing power.
Leonidas says that Ordinals and Runes have made more than $500 million in transaction fees since 2023.
Security updates push people to upgrade, even though there are disagreements about it
Adam Back said that when people try to criticize or reject safety and strength improvements, it is actually an attack on Bitcoin. He highlighted how important the security upgrades in version 30 are.
He criticized Luke Dashjr for “unblocking, replying, and then blocking again” so that people can’t respond to him in the discussion. He called it “a very weak move” and encouraged developers to update to version 30 to fix several security problems.
Bitcoin Core has a policy about sharing information on security issues. They will share information about five minor problems that were fixed in version 30 after two weeks. However, they won’t share details about medium or serious problems until a year after they are fixed.
Most fixes in version 30 have been added to version 29. 2 However, developers mentioned that some security issues might be too difficult to add to version 29. 2 without letting users know about the problem before they upgrade.
Luke Dashjr said that security problems are also fixed in Knots 29. 2
He said that “some people are trying to keep security problems secret from the Knots developers,” and he mentioned that he was taken off the security team after being on it for more than ten years.
Bitcoin supporter Alan Watts said that “Core v30 is not a big danger to Bitcoin. ” He pointed out that “nodes will no longer just update to the newest version without thinking,” and he called this greater awareness “a big win. ”
Data Growth Sparks Old Block Size Disputes
The OP_RETURN expansion lets Atomicals Virtual Machine run more complicated contracts on Bitcoin. Supporters believe it helps crowdfunding projects keep all their participation and validation information in one transaction.
As Adam mentioned before, there are now 105 million JPEG images stored on the blockchain, which is a 20% increase since May. The average cost to store these images is $8, taking away from real money transactions.
Last month, Bitcoin Core developer Jimmy Song said that the Taproot upgrade has a problem because it ignored the risks from people trying to take advantage of it. He believes that developers didn’t fully realize the problems that could happen when allowing large numbers of non-money transactions.
Song said Taproot did not keep its promises for privacy and effectiveness, and the experience with multiple signatures was so bad that it might as well not exist.
However, he recognized that future uses, like BitVM and Ark, might make the upgrade costs worthwhile.
Back estimates show that Ordinals create about 1% of extra fees, which means they make up around 0. 1% of the profits for miners after changes in the network.
The spam industry makes $250 million a year from fees, but it can harm Bitcoin’s reputation and make it harder for real users to use it.
He proposed a way for paying users to send their money to groups that manage JPEG transactions.
Is Bitcoin going down. There are a lot of unknowns coming up
The most straightforward view is that Bitcoin is at an important point. It needs to recover from the recent drop and show that it can hold on to important price levels. If it can’t do this, it might fall further.
The current task is to get above $116,000 strongly. If this happens, it would confirm that the market is recovering and could lead to more buying, pushing prices up to the upper limit around $120,000 to $126,000, which are all-time highs.
Bitcoin Core’s big update version 30 has split the community because it expands the amount of data that can be stored with each transaction. This change could be bad for Bitcoin’s value.
It’s likely that prices will stay between $110,000 and $118,000 for a while as the market reacts to recent selling and figures out if things are good enough for a solid recovery.
A retest might happen if the support at $110,000 to $112,000 stays strong and buyers come in when prices drop.
If this support fails, it could quickly drop to between $100,000 and $105,000. This might break the upward trend and indicate a bigger drop in price coming.
