Bitcoin advocate Jimmy Song said Bitcoin needs a “conservative” node client approach to protect its monetary properties and maintain decentralisation across the network.
Song, co-founder of non-profit ProductionReady, said the organisation favours minimal code changes unless there is overwhelming community consensus supporting them.
“The general principle is: if you're not sure a change makes the money better, don't make it,”
Said ProductionReady co-founder Jimmy Song.
He added that limiting arbitrary data in transactions, such as restoring the 83-byte OP_Return cap, helps keep node storage and bandwidth costs low for everyday users.
Song warned that rising hardware requirements could reduce the number of individuals running nodes, increasing the risk of network centralisation and weakening Bitcoin’s resilience.
The debate intensified after Bitcoin Core version 30 increased the OP_Return data limit to 100,000 bytes despite significant community opposition.
The change triggered a surge in adoption of alternative node software Bitcoin Knots, which now accounts for more than 21.7% of the network compared with about 1% in 2024.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $69,131.04.