One of the leading developers of Bitcoin Core, Peter Todd, has initiated a proposal to lift the restrictions on the use of OP_RETURN — a special mechanism for publishing data on the Bitcoin blockchain. According to him, the current rules limit the number of OP_RETURN outputs to one per transaction and allow only 80 bytes of information to be stored, which the developer believes is an outdated approach that harms the network more than it protects it.
This is reported by Business • Media
Arguments for the Necessity of Changes
Peter Todd emphasizes that modern protocols, particularly Citrea, are already actively using data publication on the blockchain. However, due to technical limitations, developers are forced to use so-called “fake” transaction outputs that remain in the UTXO set and complicate the operation of network nodes. In contrast, using OP_RETURN allows data to be placed without storing it in the UTXO set, optimizing network performance.
“We want such protocols to use OP_RETURN — a way to publish data that does not increase the UTXO set,” Todd explained.
Community Reaction and Future Prospects
Some members of the crypto community have expressed concerns that lifting restrictions could allow infrastructure players to fill blocks with large volumes of data, which, in turn, would increase the hardware requirements for running full nodes. However, Peter Todd considers these concerns to be exaggerated:
“These fears are unfounded. Those who want to can already insert any data into blocks. We are simply making one specific method of data publication a bit easier to encourage people to use it instead of a more harmful mechanism.”
He also emphasized that the proposed change does not open new possibilities for protocols but merely encourages the use of a less harmful way of inputting data into the blockchain. According to Todd, the changes will not affect the expansion of Bitcoin’s scripting language, as systems like Citrea build their own consensus without using blockchain scripts.
Additionally, Peter Todd confirmed his participation in Ukraine’s largest crypto conference — Incrypted Conference 2025, which will take place on June 14, 2025.