In a post on Twitter X, Luke Dashjr explained that Inscriptions, the metadata added or “inscribed” onto Bitcoin satoshis (sats) to create Bitcoin NFTs of Ordinals, is exploiting a vulnerability in Bitcoin Core to transmit unwanted information across the network.
Luke Dashjr pointed out that since 2013, the Bitcoin network has allowed users to set limits on the size of data. However, Inscriptions has surpassed this limit by disguising their data as program code. So, in recent times, the Bitcoin network has faced challenges in limiting data as transaction volumes surge due to the hype surrounding Bitcoin Ordinals.
This vulnerability has been addressed in the Bitcoin Knots v25.1; however, Luke Dashjr warned that this issue may still impact Bitcoin Core v26. Finally, Luke Dashjr expects that a resolution will be released before the release of v27 next year.
Notably, the developer confirmed that the fix would “wipe out” both Ordinals and the BRC-20 token standard. He believes that Ordinals were, from the beginning, an “attack” on the Bitcoin network. This has sparked controversy within the Bitcoin Core team. Shenyu, the founder of f2pool, stated that Bitcoin is not Ethereum, where decisions do not entirely depend on developers.
Bitcoin Ordinals are means of creating Bitcoin NFTs by attaching data such as images, videos, and more to an individual satoshi on the base Bitcoin blockchain. With 100,000,000 satoshis per Bitcoin, users can mint up to 100 million NFTs on a single Bitcoin. Thanks to Bitcoin Ordinals, users can mint and trade NFTs directly on the Bitcoin network.
Along with Bitcoin Ordinals, BRC-20 has also led to a rush of funds into Bitcoin. The amount of transactions was so large that the Bitcoin network was congested and Binance had to temporarily close the BTC deposit port. This has caused conflicts within the Bitcoin development team about whether Ordinals should be “wiped out”.