Bitcoin Knots vs Core V30 - Part X W/ Jonny Bair (Aka Bitmex Research) of Blocksize Wars

Why It Matters

The outcome could reshape Bitcoin’s upgrade politics and technical limits, testing whether miner signaling or developer-led processes determine protocol changes and risking renewed network fragmentation or contested forks. This debate has direct implications for transaction relay policy, on-chain use cases, and long-term governance stability.

Summary

Participants in a panel including BitMEX Research’s Jonathan Beer revisited the blocksize wars to frame today's dispute over BIP110, a proposed user-activated soft fork that critics liken to past contentious upgrades. Beer traced the escalation to Bitcoin Core's mid-2025 decision to raise OP_RETURN relay limits from 80 bytes to 100 KB — a 1,200x jump that inflamed opponents and spurred a push for an alternative activation pathway with a 55% miner-signaling threshold. The proposal would allow miners to opt in early and, if signaling fails, automatically enforce new rules in September 2026; panelists noted ironic alignments with past figures who previously favored mandatory miner signaling. The discussion emphasized continuity with the original blocksize conflict and highlighted deep community divisions over governance, relay policy, and the role of miners versus developers.

Original Description

Tone's Financial and Trading Content can be found: https://www.youtube.com/@TheFinancialSummit

Watch all prior Episodes Here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLQBwZ2xry6eb2I7c1KqIa10Bhs4kgqF5Y

Co-Host:

Jimmy Song: https://x.com/jimmysong

Web: https://programmingbitcoin.com/

Today's Guest: https://x.com/BitMEXResearch

Tone's Presentation at Plan B at 6:30:00 Mark:

https://rumble.com/v74p75k-plan-forum-el-salvador-2026-live-from-the-wagmi-stage.html

Debate Panel w/ Tone, Jonny, Luke, Mechanic Moderated by Giacomo Zucco at around 2:30:00 (ish):

https://rumble.com/v74p7e0-plan-forum-el-salvador-2026-day-2-live-from-the-wagmi-stage.html?e9s=src_v1_cbl%2Csrc_v1_ucp_a

Fork Monitor:

https://forkmonitor.info/nodes/btc

https://bip110.org/

Reference Links:

Core v30 Release Notes: https://bitcoincore.org/en/2025/06/06/relay-statement/

Core Dev & Transaction Relay Policy: https://bitcoincore.org/en/2025/06/06/relay-statement/

Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Knots: What The OP_RETURN Debate Is Actually About by Aaron van Wirdum:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/bitcoin-core-or-bitcoin-knots-what-the-op_return-debate-is-actually-about

The Bitcoin Mempool: Relay Network Dynamics by Shinobi: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/technical/the-bitcoin-mempool-relay-network-dynamics

Bitcoin Core vs. Bitcoin Knots: Actions Speak Louder Than Words by Shinobi: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/culture/bitcoin-core-vs-bitcoin-knots-actions-speak-louder-than-words