Bitcoin Knots nodes rise 49% in April amid 80-byte OP_RETURN debate

Bitcoin (CRYPTO:BTC) developers are currently engaged in a dispute over a proposal to remove the 80-byte limit on the OP_RETURN function, a restriction that controls the size of data embedded in the Bitcoin blockchain.

The proposal, introduced by Peter Todd, would allow larger datasets to be stored onchain, a move that has generated significant opposition within the developer community.

Critics argue that lifting the cap threatens Bitcoin’s design principles and could lead to increased spam on the network.

Developer Luke Dashjr described the proposal as “utter insanity” and warned it could flood the blockchain with unwanted data.

This controversy has coincided with a 49 percent increase in the number of nodes running Bitcoin Knots, an alternative Bitcoin client derived from Bitcoin Core but offering more granular control over transaction policies.

Bitcoin Knots nodes increased from 674 on April 1 to 1,006 by the end of the month.

Despite this growth, Bitcoin Core remains dominant, with 20,213 public nodes representing approximately 94.78 percent of the network’s 21,326 public nodes.

Bitcoin Knots accounts for roughly 4.72 percent of public nodes.

If Bitcoin Knots nodes refuse to relay transactions containing oversized OP_RETURN data, Bitcoin Core nodes can still propagate those transactions as long as they comply with consensus rules and mempool policies.

Even if Bitcoin Knots became the majority client and rejected large OP_RETURN transactions, Core nodes and miners could still confirm those transactions and include them in blocks.

“A client only ceases to align with Bitcoin when a hard fork rewrites those rules and the nodes, community, plus bitcoin miners decide on the longest, highest-PoW chain as the authentic ledger," as stated.

Therefore, while Bitcoin Knots’ node growth is notable, it does not currently have the capacity to block data storage changes if the OP_RETURN limit is removed.

At the time of reporting, the Bitcoin (BTC) price was $94,394.46.