Bitcoin Core Version 30.0: A New Era Begins
Bitcoin Core has unveiled version 30.0, marking a significant milestone for the project. This release signals the end of support for legacy branches 27.x and older, which are now classified as “End of Life.” According to the release notes, these older versions will no longer receive updates. The new binaries and comprehensive release notes are now accessible on the project’s official website, and a brief launch confirmation has been shared on various platforms.
Bitcoin Core V30 Introduces Policy Changes
The most debated modification in version 30.0 is a policy change regarding OP_RETURN, the script path used for unspendable outputs carrying arbitrary data. Bitcoin Core has increased the default -datacarriersize limit to 100,000 bytes, allowing multiple OP_RETURN outputs in a single transaction for both relay and mining purposes. However, node operators still have the flexibility to revert to the previous limit of 83 bytes by using the -datacarriersize=83 command. This change has sparked discussions about the types of activities that Bitcoin’s policy layer should support or restrict.
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Supporters of the change argue that it offers greater flexibility and maintains operator choice, while critics caution that it could lead to increased non-monetary entries and potential spam, thereby increasing the storage and validation demands on nodes.
Network and Wallet Enhancements in V30
Beyond OP_RETURN, version 30.0 introduces a range of network, wallet, and tooling enhancements. The peer-to-peer (P2P) layer now supports improved package relay, facilitating more reliable propagation of common topologies like grandparent-parent-child or multi-parent-one-child, even when only one ancestor requires a fee bump. Additionally, the transaction orphanage now has stronger DoS limits based on total entries and weight across peers, replacing the previously used -maxorphantx knob.
New Features for Miners
Miners benefit from an experimental IPC mining interface, which is accessible through a new comprehensive bitcoin command. This command also provides convenient aliases such as “bitcoin node,” “bitcoin gui,” and “bitcoin rpc,” without eliminating the existing binaries. Furthermore, external signing on Windows is now re-enabled, and the coinstats index has been revamped to prevent an overflow bug encountered on the default Signet, necessitating a one-time resync of that index.
Fee Policy Adjustments
Version 30.0 also brings changes to fee policy defaults. The minimum block fee rate setting (-blockmintxfee) now defaults to 0.001 sat/vB, while both the minimum relay and incremental relay fee rates default to 0.1 sat/vB. The release notes emphasize that unless these lower defaults are widely adopted, there is no guarantee of propagation and confirmation, although wallet fee rates remain unchanged unless explicitly configured.
Impact of OP_RETURN Policy Change
The changes surrounding OP_RETURN have sparked significant debate within Bitcoin’s public discourse, drawing opinions from long-time contributors and editors. Proponents view Bitcoin Core 30.0’s increased data-carrier default and the allowance for multiple OP_RETURN outputs as policy-neutral and adjustable at the node level. However, detractors express concern that these changes could be misused, potentially shifting the network’s monetary focus and even leading to a hard fork.
At the time of writing, Bitcoin is trading at $114,455, reflecting a continued uptrend.
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