Blockstream CEO Adam Back on Ordinals, You “Can’t Stop JPEGs on Bitcoin”

Blockstream CEO Adam Back reacted to a recent movement by Bitcoin (BTC) core developer Luka Dashjr to eradicate Bitcoin Ordinals, stating that the Bitcoin advocate “can’t stop JPEGs on Bitcoin.”

Plans to Kick Out Bitcoin Ordinals Plotted

Earlier this month, Dashjr expressed his displeasure about the advent of Bitcoin Ordinals, citing that “Inscription” as they are sometimes referred to, is exploiting a vulnerability in Bitcoin Core to spam the blockchain, thereby, causing network congestion. He believes that fixing this vulnerability before the anticipated v27 update is released, will bring an end to the reign of Ordinals and BRC-20.

Before the introduction and adoption of Bitcoin Ordinals, Bitcoin Core users were allowed to limit additional data size in transactions. For the past ten years, they have been able to achieve this by indulging the “-datacarriersize” setting. Inscription can confuse the system into thinking that users’ data are program code, thereby providing a strategy to bypass the limit.

Dashjr’s plan to put an end to the reign of Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 met with some negative reactions from members of the crypto community and Back happens to be one of them. The Blockstream CEO seems very confident that Dashjr cannot do anything about these “JPEGS” on BTC. 

you can't stop JPEGs on bitcoin. complaining will only make them do it more. trying to stop them and they'll do it in worse ways. the high fees drive adoption of layer2 and force innovation. so relax and build things.

— Adam Back (@adam3us) December 16, 2023

“….complaining will only make them do it more. trying to stop them and they’ll do it in worse ways. the high fees drive adoption of layer2 and force innovation,” Back shared on the X app, urging the Bitcoin core developer to “relax and build things.”

Dashjr refused to agree with Back, instead, he reiterated that it is possible to stop “them.” He went on to point out a trend in the industry where a concept is not explored before it is written off, implying that they cannot conclude if they have not attempted.

BTC Ordinals is Good for Miners

Some crypto community members agree with Back on the higher fees. They believe that miners’ profit has increased significantly since the introduction of Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20. Therefore, cutting them off may lead to losses for Bitcoin miners, a development that might prove costly. 

In response, Dashjr clarified that Bitcoin works in consensus with a majority of miners being honest, and not harming the blockchain.

Meanwhile, the clamor for Bitcoin Ordinals is still growing. According to a report by Coingape, daily inscriptions have reached a massive 400,000 with trading volumes shooting to $40,000 and gas fees spiking to new highs.