Bitcoin Split Widens Over Taproot, Ordinals, and Runes

[ed]

A deep rift is forming among Bitcoiners:

Adam Back, Luke Dashjr, Jimmy Song: want Bitcoin to remain “peer-to-peer money” only.

Leonidas & Ordinals camp: embrace Taproot for inscriptions, NFTs, and Runes.

The battle intensified when over 30 Bitcoin Core devs lifted the 80-byte OP_RETURN limit, unlocking storage of images, videos, and documents.

But fears of a rollback drove a massive shift to Bitcoin Knots nodes — from 67 in March 2024 to 7,112 today (28% of the network).

Some in the Ordinals community have even floated a fork of Bitcoin Core if censorship is attempted.

[Nahid10]

This split was inevitable. Bitcoin has always carried two visions: hard money vs. programmable canvas. Now Taproot + inscriptions are forcing the community to pick sides.

[Pitchfork_IS_power]

yes, that's not bad

[Jibon1199]

This debate shows how alive and evolving Bitcoin really is. The split between pure peer-to-peer money vision and the Ordinals innovation camp proves the network is bigger than any one group. Growth of Knots nodes just highlights how deeply people care about preserving choice and freedom.

[Dave]

Watching this unfold feels historic. Whether you side with Bitcoin as digital cash or with Ordinals pushing creativity, both camps are shaping the future. The fact that thousands have moved to Knots nodes shows how powerful community action can be in defending the network.

[kelson10]

7,000+ Knots nodes is no joke. That’s a clear signal that miners and node operators won’t sit quietly if Core devs try to censor Ordinals or Runes.

[jacson4]

A fork would be nuclear for Bitcoin’s brand — but it shows just how passionate people are about keeping Bitcoin open to experimentation.