Bitcoin proposal to curb spam with a temporary soft fork sparks debate among developers
A new BIP proposes a temporary soft fork to limit arbitrary data in Bitcoin transactions due to concerns over illegal content.Summary
Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 444 (BIP-444) suggests implementing a temporary soft fork, lasting about a year, to restrict the amount of arbitrary data allowed in Bitcoin transactions, specifically limiting OP_RETURN outputs to 83 bytes and other scriptPubKeys to 34 bytes. This proposal arises after a recent Bitcoin Core update uncapped data limits, leading to concerns that node operators could face legal liability for hosting illegal content like CSAM. The proposal, written by an unknown developer named "Dathon Ohm," explicitly aims to mitigate this crisis while developers devise a long-term solution. Proponents like Luke Dashjr support the simple, temporary fix, while critics argue it constitutes censorship, violates Bitcoin's permissionless nature, and question the actual legal liability. The proposal has not yet reached the official Bitcoin Development Mailing List for formal review.
(Source：The Block)