The Bitcoin network sees the first block supporting BIP-110, sparking controversy over restrictions on on-chain data usage

PANews March 3 News, according to CoinDesk, the first block supporting the BIP-110 proposal was mined by Ocean Pool on the Bitcoin network this week. The proposal aims to temporarily soft fork to limit arbitrary non-financial data in blockchain transactions over approximately one year. Supporters believe this can curb “junk” data occupying block space, protect Bitcoin’s role as a robust monetary infrastructure, and reduce the burden on node operators. The proposal has sparked intense debate within the community. Critics like Blockstream CEO Adam Back warned that intervention at the consensus layer could damage Bitcoin’s credibility, lead to differentiated treatment of transactions, and violate the principle of transaction capacity neutrality. He also questioned the actual support for the proposal, suggesting it could increase the risk of blockchain splits.

The controversy escalated further when a developer embedded a 66KB image in a Bitcoin transaction to oppose the core claims of BIP-110, demonstrating that large amounts of data can be encoded even without relying on OP_RETURN. This debate highlights long-standing ideological differences within the Bitcoin community: whether to firmly defend Bitcoin’s pure monetary identity or to maintain maximum neutrality regarding arbitrary uses at the base layer.