Bitcoin Network Vulnerability Addressed in Latest Update; Developer Claims Bug Fix to Halt Ordinals and BRC-20 Tokens

Global, 6th December 2023:

Reports from Bitcoin Core developers suggest a potential resolution to Bitcoin Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens’ impact on network congestion through a bug fix in the Bitcoin blockchain system. The alleged exploitation of a vulnerability has led to increased network congestion, as stated by a Bitcoin Core developer.

Luke Dashjr, a developer, highlighted in a recent X (Twitter) post that inscriptions utilized by Ordinals and BRC-20 creators to embed data on satoshis are exploiting a loophole within Bitcoin Core, leading to what he described as “spamming the blockchain.”

The flaw, allowing inscriptions to surpass data size limits, has reportedly been rectified in the latest update of Bitcoin Knots. This derivative of Bitcoin Core incorporates features either less tested or untested from the core code, sometimes maintained outside its traditional framework.

Dashjr responded affirmatively to queries about the cessation of Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens if the vulnerability were fixed, stating, “Correct.” However, he noted that existing inscriptions would persist until the bug is resolved in future releases.

Despite the recent Bitcoin Knots upgrade addressing this vulnerability, Dashjr cautioned that Bitcoin Core remains susceptible in the upcoming v26 release, expressing hope for a resolution before v27 in the coming year.

Decentralized mining protocol Ocean, where Dashjr serves as chief technology officer, confirmed on X that the Bitcoin Knots upgrade tackles the vulnerability exploited by contemporary spammers.

Ocean’s announcement indicated an anticipated increase in genuine transactions within their blocks, hinting at Ordinals inscriptions being categorized as a denial-of-service attack on the Bitcoin network.

Dashjr staunchly opposed Ordinal inscriptions, emphasizing the detrimental impact on Bitcoin and its users, labeling it as an irreparable attack on the network since its inception.

The Ordinals protocol, introduced in January 2023 by Casey Rodarmor, facilitated the ‘inscription’ of data and nonfungible tokens (NFTs) onto satoshis—the smallest Bitcoin unit denomination.

The network’s congestion escalated due to inscriptions and BRC-20 token minting, resulting in over 275,000 unconfirmed transactions and a surge in medium-priority transaction costs to approximately $14 from around $1.50, according to mempool.space.