Bitcoin Core upgrade has not yet reached a conclusion, and the OP-20 indexing and transactions remain a challenge.
Written by: Golem (@web3_golem)
The sleeping lion is about to awaken? This is the feeling of some deep players in the Bitcoin ecosystem recently.
A developer statement on May 6 indicated that the next version of Bitcoin Core may abolish the limit of 80 bytes for OP_RETURN outputs. The statement noted that the 80-byte cap on OP_RETURN no longer meets current demand, as it is easy to circumvent; some private mining accelerators do not enforce these limits at all. Additionally, it creates a distorted incentive mechanism, where some projects incentivize certain private services to bypass the restrictions. The statement also mentioned that the abolishment of the 80-byte cap on OP_RETURN has received widespread support.
Currently, there is a token deployment format OP-20 on the market that breaks through the 80-byte limit of OP_RETURN. The over-the-counter transaction price of the same token op_return has risen to 400 USD per sheet (one sheet contains 1000 tokens), while the cost is only 5-6 USD per sheet.
Odaily Planet Daily will briefly introduce what OP_RETURN is, the advantages and disadvantages it will bring to the Bitcoin network after a successful upgrade, and the prospects of issuing OP-20 using this mechanism.
The Debate Surrounding OP_RETURN
In the Bitcoin network, OP_RETURN is a script opcode specifically used to carry arbitrary data in transactions. The data carried using OP_RETURN outputs will not be referenced by subsequent transactions and will not occupy the UTXO space of nodes.
In the early days, Bitcoin nodes had to permanently retain all unspent outputs (UTXO), and malicious or indiscriminate data writes could create storage pressure on nodes. Therefore, in 2013, the community proposed the idea of "lightening" data storage by adding a script for immediate invalidation. Subsequently, in 2014, the Bitcoin Core version 0.9.0 officially included OP_RETURN outputs as a "standard output" type and set the data limit to 40 bytes, which was gradually increased to 80 bytes to balance the demand for data writing with the protection of network resources.
OP_RETURN restrictions are no longer suitable for the development needs of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Therefore, the original purpose of Bitcoin developers designing OP_RETURN was to prevent nodes from bloating their storage by processing scripts containing large amounts of data, using it as a "lightweight record" function for the blockchain. However, with the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, various asset protocols, project parties, L2, and cross-chain bridges have required increasingly more data to be recorded on-chain, and the 80-byte limitation of OP_RETURN has gradually become a constraint.
In order to meet project requirements, various project parties have had to bypass this restriction through various operations, including offering high rewards to miners. This is why Bitcoin Core core contributor Greg Sanders issued a statement on GitHub proposing to remove the 80-byte limit in the next version of Bitcoin Core, allowing arbitrary amounts and lengths of OP_RETURN outputs.
He believes that the removal of the 80-byte limit brings at least the following two practical benefits:
A cleaner UTXO set. Data can now be placed in an unspendable output that can be proven, rather than being disguised in spendable scripts or scattered across multiple transactions.
Consistency of behavior. Nodes can relay the transactions that miners wish to see, making fee estimation and compact block relay more reliable.
The opposition voices remain strong.
However, in reality, Bitcoin Core has not yet announced the specific date for the next upgrade. At the same time, there are still many opposing voices under the GitHub statement about the upgrade.
Community member wizkid 057 stated that this is far more than just a minor technical change; it is a fundamental shift in the essence of the entire Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin network will become an arbitrary data storage system rather than developing as a decentralized currency. At the same time, it will also lead to more data-intensive protocols (such as inscriptions, NFTs) and "garbage" data becoming more rampant.
Upgrade not completed, token issuance first
However, despite the fact that there is still no conclusion on the update to abolish the 80-byte limit of OP_RETURN in the next version of Bitcoin Core, a token deployment standard that breaks this limitation, OP-20, has quietly gone live. Moreover, the first token of this protocol, op_return, is suspected to have been fully minted, with the current over-the-counter transaction price reaching 400 USD per piece (one piece is 1000 units), while the initial cost was only 5-6 USD each, achieving a hundred-fold "floating profit."
op_return was suspected to be deployed by address bc 1 p...4 w 5 pq 6 on the evening of May 6, with a total of 2.1 million, totaling 2100 pieces. As shown in the picture, the token deployment format is essentially no different from BRC-20, except that there is an additional address in the json text (this may also be the reason why OP-20 exceeds the 80-byte limit).
Therefore, the format for minting op_return is as follows:
{ "p": "op-20", "op": "mint", "tick": "op_return", "amt": "1000", "add": "This is your Bitcoin address" }
Users paste this text information into the OP_RETURN Bot website and then pay via the Lightning Network to create an OP_RETURN output, completing the minting operation. Currently, the community speculates that op_return has been fully minted, but there is no official index or transaction transfer tool available, and only over-the-counter double pledges can be conducted.
Regarding the indexing rules (which determine whether you hit or miss), community players have listed two scenarios: one is an index that does not allow batch minting (i.e., multiple hits in a single transaction), and the other is an index that allows batch minting.
At the same time, some community players compared OP-20 to BRC-20, believing that OP-20 has no concerns about block size inflation and UTXO contamination, and is significantly superior to BRC-20. However, it should be noted that Bitcoin Core has not abolished the OP_RETURN 80-byte cap at present, so OP-20 cannot be packaged on-chain in principle, and users can only wait for MARA and f2pool, which may have lifted the OP_RETURN 80-byte cap.
In fact, although the attention has decreased, the Bitcoin ecosystem still has a group of dedicated community developers and players who are actively engaged. Innovations such as Odin.Fun and the Alkanes protocol have emerged recently, but ultimately, they have all met the fate of much ado about nothing. So, back to the age-old hopeful topic, can the expected upgrade of the Bitcoin Core version, OP-20, lead the Bitcoin ecosystem to rise? We shall wait and see.
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BTC "small upgrade" ignites hundredfold magic coin, OP-20 Token off-exchange transaction price exceeds 400 USD / piece | BTC ecosystem
Written by: Golem (@web3_golem)
The sleeping lion is about to awaken? This is the feeling of some deep players in the Bitcoin ecosystem recently.
A developer statement on May 6 indicated that the next version of Bitcoin Core may abolish the limit of 80 bytes for OP_RETURN outputs. The statement noted that the 80-byte cap on OP_RETURN no longer meets current demand, as it is easy to circumvent; some private mining accelerators do not enforce these limits at all. Additionally, it creates a distorted incentive mechanism, where some projects incentivize certain private services to bypass the restrictions. The statement also mentioned that the abolishment of the 80-byte cap on OP_RETURN has received widespread support.
Currently, there is a token deployment format OP-20 on the market that breaks through the 80-byte limit of OP_RETURN. The over-the-counter transaction price of the same token op_return has risen to 400 USD per sheet (one sheet contains 1000 tokens), while the cost is only 5-6 USD per sheet.
Odaily Planet Daily will briefly introduce what OP_RETURN is, the advantages and disadvantages it will bring to the Bitcoin network after a successful upgrade, and the prospects of issuing OP-20 using this mechanism.
The Debate Surrounding OP_RETURN
In the Bitcoin network, OP_RETURN is a script opcode specifically used to carry arbitrary data in transactions. The data carried using OP_RETURN outputs will not be referenced by subsequent transactions and will not occupy the UTXO space of nodes.
In the early days, Bitcoin nodes had to permanently retain all unspent outputs (UTXO), and malicious or indiscriminate data writes could create storage pressure on nodes. Therefore, in 2013, the community proposed the idea of "lightening" data storage by adding a script for immediate invalidation. Subsequently, in 2014, the Bitcoin Core version 0.9.0 officially included OP_RETURN outputs as a "standard output" type and set the data limit to 40 bytes, which was gradually increased to 80 bytes to balance the demand for data writing with the protection of network resources.
OP_RETURN restrictions are no longer suitable for the development needs of the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Therefore, the original purpose of Bitcoin developers designing OP_RETURN was to prevent nodes from bloating their storage by processing scripts containing large amounts of data, using it as a "lightweight record" function for the blockchain. However, with the development of the Bitcoin ecosystem, various asset protocols, project parties, L2, and cross-chain bridges have required increasingly more data to be recorded on-chain, and the 80-byte limitation of OP_RETURN has gradually become a constraint.
In order to meet project requirements, various project parties have had to bypass this restriction through various operations, including offering high rewards to miners. This is why Bitcoin Core core contributor Greg Sanders issued a statement on GitHub proposing to remove the 80-byte limit in the next version of Bitcoin Core, allowing arbitrary amounts and lengths of OP_RETURN outputs.
He believes that the removal of the 80-byte limit brings at least the following two practical benefits:
The opposition voices remain strong.
However, in reality, Bitcoin Core has not yet announced the specific date for the next upgrade. At the same time, there are still many opposing voices under the GitHub statement about the upgrade.
Community member wizkid 057 stated that this is far more than just a minor technical change; it is a fundamental shift in the essence of the entire Bitcoin network. The Bitcoin network will become an arbitrary data storage system rather than developing as a decentralized currency. At the same time, it will also lead to more data-intensive protocols (such as inscriptions, NFTs) and "garbage" data becoming more rampant.
Upgrade not completed, token issuance first
However, despite the fact that there is still no conclusion on the update to abolish the 80-byte limit of OP_RETURN in the next version of Bitcoin Core, a token deployment standard that breaks this limitation, OP-20, has quietly gone live. Moreover, the first token of this protocol, op_return, is suspected to have been fully minted, with the current over-the-counter transaction price reaching 400 USD per piece (one piece is 1000 units), while the initial cost was only 5-6 USD each, achieving a hundred-fold "floating profit."
op_return was suspected to be deployed by address bc 1 p...4 w 5 pq 6 on the evening of May 6, with a total of 2.1 million, totaling 2100 pieces. As shown in the picture, the token deployment format is essentially no different from BRC-20, except that there is an additional address in the json text (this may also be the reason why OP-20 exceeds the 80-byte limit).
Therefore, the format for minting op_return is as follows:
{ "p": "op-20", "op": "mint", "tick": "op_return", "amt": "1000", "add": "This is your Bitcoin address" }
Users paste this text information into the OP_RETURN Bot website and then pay via the Lightning Network to create an OP_RETURN output, completing the minting operation. Currently, the community speculates that op_return has been fully minted, but there is no official index or transaction transfer tool available, and only over-the-counter double pledges can be conducted.
Regarding the indexing rules (which determine whether you hit or miss), community players have listed two scenarios: one is an index that does not allow batch minting (i.e., multiple hits in a single transaction), and the other is an index that allows batch minting.
At the same time, some community players compared OP-20 to BRC-20, believing that OP-20 has no concerns about block size inflation and UTXO contamination, and is significantly superior to BRC-20. However, it should be noted that Bitcoin Core has not abolished the OP_RETURN 80-byte cap at present, so OP-20 cannot be packaged on-chain in principle, and users can only wait for MARA and f2pool, which may have lifted the OP_RETURN 80-byte cap.
In fact, although the attention has decreased, the Bitcoin ecosystem still has a group of dedicated community developers and players who are actively engaged. Innovations such as Odin.Fun and the Alkanes protocol have emerged recently, but ultimately, they have all met the fate of much ado about nothing. So, back to the age-old hopeful topic, can the expected upgrade of the Bitcoin Core version, OP-20, lead the Bitcoin ecosystem to rise? We shall wait and see.