Bitcoin Knots’ Big Comeback: You Won’t Believe Who’s Giving Core a Headache!

In the time-honored tradition of doing things the hard way to prove a point, more than 12% of the 21,908 public Bitcoin nodes now run on Bitcoin Knots. It’s all thanks to a debate over whether OP_RETURN should carry a slim envelope or an all-you-can-eat buffet. Yes, someone in the back asked about the difference: the answer is, “42 bytes, a priest, and a goat.” 🪙

12% and Climbing (Somewhere, a Statistician’s Eyebrow Just Twitch)

Coin Dance—trusted source for people who enjoy graphs with alarming gradients—reports a steady uptick in Bitcoin Knots. There are now 2,673 public nodes waving the Knots flag. This comes after Bitcoin Core’s bold move: tossing the 80-byte limit on OP_RETURN transactions straight into the sea, perhaps attached to a coconut with a hopeful message inside.

Bitcoin Knots, meanwhile, glares at this newfound data freeloading and says, “Not so fast, you lot!”—keeping things neat and tidy with a 42-byte cap. Picture a janitor at a music festival, doggedly sweeping up irresponsible byte droppings, while also offering operators fancy brooms to keep out spam and transactions worth less than a sneeze. This isn’t just technical thriftiness—it’s the software equivalent of sending a strongly worded letter. 🔨

Fun with arithmetic time: at the end of 2024, a rather sensible 410 Knots nodes existed. That’s roughly 12.5 new nodes per day, every day, for 181 days—someone, somewhere, is missing a lot of sleep. With Bitcoin Core holding 19,186 nodes and Knots forging ahead, it would take a full 554 days of this pace to reach half that number. Which, for those without a calendar handy, exceeds October 2025 by several hundred cups of cold coffee.

For those scoreboard watchin’ at home: even if Bitcoin Knots cranks it up to 50%, the big, lumpy OP_RETURN transactions can still slip through, so long as enough Bitcoin Core nodes and miners say, “Come on in.” The relay party might get a bit weird, but the consensus rules are as permissive as an aunt with too many biscuits. 🍪

This whole business isn’t just about bytes (ask any poet, it never is). Running a Knots node these days is code for, “I’m not angry, I’m just disappointed.” It’s a digital picket sign waved at Bitcoin Core’s latest escapades. Sure, Knots can’t bring the network to its knees, but they can certainly put a traffic cone in the relay lane. If their numbers keep growing, Core is in for a proper, slow-burning, peer-to-peer headache.

Read More

2025-06-17 01:28