Will #Ordinals be dead by 2024?
In a recent revelation, #BitcoinCore developer Luke Dashjr brought attention to the exploitation of a vulnerability within Bitcoin Core through the Introduction of “Inscriptions.” Dashjr shared on Twitter that this vulnerability is being used to spam the blockchain.
While several projects such as OnChain Monkey, Ordinal Punks, and #Taproot Wizards have introduced the Inscriptions model on the Bitcoin blockchain, the developer called out Ordinals as a major player in the ecosystem that will be dead if the next Bitcoin improvement, v27, is executed next year.
Bitcoin #Ordinals on #Bitcoin -
Bitcoin Ordinals is a protocol that allows individual satoshis (the smallest denomination of Bitcoin) to be assigned a unique identifier and additional data, a process known as inscribing.
Each satoshi is given a serial number based on the order in which it was mined, and this number is called an ordinal.
The inscribed data can include images, videos, text, or other content, effectively creating unique and scarce digital assets on the Bitcoin blockchain, similar to non-fungible tokens (NFTs).
The protocol was introduced in January 2023 and has generated both interest and controversy within the crypto community.
The introduction of Bitcoin Ordinals has generated both excitement and criticism within the cryptocurrency community.
Critics argue that Ordinals can negatively impact Bitcoin’s network capacity and scalability, as they require additional data storage and processing.
The large amount of data associated with Ordinal inscriptions and the increased demand for block space can lead to higher fees and congestion on the network. Additionally, others contend that Ordinals are a misuse of the Bitcoin network and a waste of its scarce resources, as they require additional storage and processing power.
Bitcoin Vulnerability -
According to Dashjr, the vulnerability involves exploiting a feature in #BitcoinCore that has been present since 2013. This feature allows users to set a limit on the size of extra data in transactions they relay or mine, known as -datacarriersize. Inscriptions, however, manage to bypass this limit by disguising their data as program code.
He highlighted that this bug has already been addressed in Bitcoin Knots v25.1, although it took longer to resolve due to disruptions in his workflow towards the end of the previous year.
Despite the fix in Bitcoin Knots, the upcoming v26 release of Bitcoin Core remains vulnerable. The Bitcoin Core developer expressed hope that a final solution will be implemented before the release of v27 next year.
#BitcoinCore 'Firing' All Miners With #PoW Algo Change: Feisty Exchanges Mark Growing Divide
Over the last ten years, Luke Dashjr has emerged as a key player in the realm of Bitcoin development and the network’s open-source software. His opposition to specific trends within the Bitcoin ecosystem has gained more attention lately.
He has labeled Ordinal inscriptions and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) on the Bitcoin platform as detrimental to the protocol and akin to spam, which he believes has been curtailed since 2014.
Just this week, he suggested that Antpool might be employing “covert” ASIC Boost techniques. Subsequently, he informed individuals that the Bitcoin community has the power to fire all miners “by changing to a different PoW algorithm.”
Luke Dashjr Talks Ousting Miners and Covert ASIC Boost Use-
In recent weeks, Luke Dashjr, a prominent #BitcoinCore contributor and the brain behind Bitcoin Knots, has been particularly vocal. He re-entered the spotlight when his operated pool, Ocean Mining pool, confirmed it was filtering specific transactions, including Ordinal inscriptions, BRC20 Tokens and Coin join related transfers.
On Dec. 17, in a conversation about simply using a .sats domain on an X profile among #Ordinals enthusiasts, Dashjr remarked, “Hopefully enough of you scammers will be in jail by ’26 so we never have to worry about you again.”
An individual, surprised by Dashjr’s comment, asked him, “Wow. Okay. I have never talked to you before nor done you any harm. What’s your problem?”
To this, Dashjr bluntly responded,
“Scamming in the name of Bitcoin literally harms everyone on the planet.”
In a separate dialogue on Sunday, Dashjr engaged with Adam Back, after Back asserted that stopping Ordinals was futile, as “you can’t stop JPEGs on bitcoin.”
Dashjr elaborated on his stance in Back’s X thread with others.
Discussing this with an X user named Bobby.sats, Dashjr explained, “It’s inevitable that bad actors will bribe miners to attack Bitcoin. If they actively do so, it becomes time to fire the miners. But step 1 is to fix the bug so they can do the right thing.”
When Bobby inquired how one could ‘fire a miner,’ Dashjr clarified:-
You can’t fire a single miner, but if a majority are attacking, the community can fire them all together by changing to a different PoW algorithm, making their mining hardware all useless.
Dashjr also ventured a theory on X (formerly known as Twitter) regarding the mining operation Antpool.
“My theory on Antpool’s abnormally-high rate of empty blocks,”
Dashjr theorized,
“These blocks are probably found using some old ASICs which only supported covert [ASIC Boost] (ie, not overt which is common today). Covert [ASIC Boost] is incompatible with Segwit. This was a major reason Bitmain tried to prevent Segwit in 2017. Bitcoin Core and Knots 0.18, however, removed support for creating non-Segwit block templates in 2019. So the only way to do so post-Taproot, is to make an entirely empty block.”
He added a disclaimer to his post, noting,
“This is only one possibility, not a confirmed fact,”
and encouraged people to contemplate such scenarios.
Dashjr’s comments have attracted mockery on X, with #Taproot Wizard founder Udi Wertheimer sharing screenshots of his statements.
“Cat-eater [Luke Dashjr] actually believes that if bitcoin miners don’t censor inscriptions for him, he’ll just change the proof of work algorithm and put them out of his business … he’s deranged,” Wertheimer commented.
Wertheimer also criticized software developer Peter Todd for discussing $RUNE assets’ alleged fraudulent use of other coin names & suggesting the RUNE Protocol is “_designed_ for fraud.”
DISCLAIMER -
The debate over Ordinals on Bitcoin has intensified in the past two months, igniting a spectrum of opinions among community members. Some participants, displaying heightened fervor, vehemently oppose these developments, while others advocate for them, underlining the growing divide.
Always #DYOR before investing in Crypto Currency, B'coz it's NFA 🙏