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PSA: “Inscriptions” are exploiting a vulnerability in #Bitcoin Core to spam the blockchain. Bitcoin Core has, since 2013, allowed users to set a limit on the size of extra data in transactions they relay or mine (`-datacarriersize`). By obfuscating their data as program code, Inscriptions bypass this limit.

This bug was recently fixed in Bitcoin Knots v25.1. It took longer than usual due to my workflow being severely disrupted at the end of last year (v24 was skipped entirely).

Bitcoin Core is still vulnerable in the upcoming v26 release. I can only hope it will finally get fixed before v27 next year.

Crizzo 2y ago

Do inscriptions take up more blockspace for the same price as a normal transaction?

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Discussion

xplbzx 2y ago

Guessing the answer is a resounding no. Still begs the question, why was -datacarriersize created which begs the question does ordinals/inscriptions/brc20 bring anything of value? Or is it all just actually objectively spam?

Luke Dashjr 2y ago

Yes and no

By the byte, yes

But they also enable miners to make the blocks larger (which is a second bad effect)