The Bitcoin Core team has released a latest version of Bitcoin Core infrastructure v30.0, which includes a big and controversial change that removes the long-standing 80-byte limit on OP_RETURN, a function that lets you add extra data to Bitcoin transactions.
According to the official announcement, the firm said that the update changes the way Bitcoin nodes handle transactions that carry data by removing the limit on how much data can be stored in the OP_RETURN field. Earlier, users could only add small pieces of data. With the new version, nodes can now send transactions with data payloads that are much bigger, up to several megabytes, depending on the size of the block.
The developers also clarified that the new version is a policy change, not a consensus change. This means that it doesn’t change the rules that govern Bitcoin or cause a hard fork. If they want to keep stricter standards, node operators and miners can still set their limits.
Bitcoin Core is an open-source program that is a direct descendant of the original software made by Satoshi Nakamoto. It consists of both full-node software for fully validating the blockchain as well as a bitcoin wallet.
Debate and controversy over the update
Supporters of the update argue that it could make Bitcoin more flexible and open by allowing people to use it for applications such as timestamping, document authentication, and decentralized identity systems. They also believe it will reduce the use of unsafe workarounds, which occur when users conceal data within normal transactions. These can make the blockchain bigger and more dangerous.
However, the new update has been subject to a lot of controversy since its launch. The Bitcoin team announced their new update via a post on X, and many users were not happy about it.
In June 2025, Bitcoin pioneer Peter Todd suggested changing the OP_RETURN policy, and Chaincode Labs supported it. The change gets rid of the 80-byte data limit and lets “unlimited data inclusion” happen.
Peter Todd, while cautioning, said, “It doesn’t make economic sense to use OP_Return for large amounts of data. Witness space is cheaper.” Other critics have been even more direct. Jimmy Song said that letting OP_RETURN outputs bigger than 83 bytes would make the chain “more garbage” and make UTXO bloat worse.
In the meantime, people like Samson Mow and Luke Dashjr spoke out against centralization pressures, saying that rising storage costs might help big operators.
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