Saifedean Ammous Pushes to Make Spamming Bitcoin More Expensive

Saifedean Ammous Pushes to Make Spamming Bitcoin More Expensive

‘Bitcoin Standard’ Author Supports Funding Developer to Fight On-Chain Junk Data

Bitcoin’s original purpose as a peer-to-peer monetary system is at the center of a growing clash within the crypto community. This time, the battleground is spam — specifically, the kind that clogs blocks with unnecessary data like images and inscriptions.

Economist and author Saifedean Ammous, known for The Bitcoin Standard, has stepped into the debate. “I’d throw in a few sats,” he said, backing a proposal to fund a full-time developer dedicated to making Bitcoin spam more costly and less effective.

Developer Proposal Ignites Core-Level Debate

The controversy centers around Bitcoin Core pull request #28408, a proposal by the pseudonymous developer GrassFedBitcoin. The request would allow node operators to filter inscriptions, which are typically large chunks of non-monetary data like JPEGs embedded in transactions.

“No one running a node wants to relay inscriptions,” GrassFedBitcoin argued. He claims the feature contributes to blockchain bloat, weakening Bitcoin’s core utility as a financial network.

He likened the situation to past decisions to increase OP_RETURN data limits — choices he says were made under false assumptions and now need reversing with policy-level defaults discouraging non-monetary data storage.

Blockstream CEO Warns of a Cat-and-Mouse Game

Not everyone agrees. Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, responded by describing inscription filtering as an “arms race.” He pointed out that spammers can constantly tweak how they embed junk data, which would require ongoing updates to filtering software — a game of endless whack-a-mole.

Ammous: Fighting Spam Isn’t Censorship

Ammous, however, isn’t convinced by the pushback. He compared the issue to email spam, which society continues to battle without dismantling email systems altogether. “It’s not easy, but it’s worth trying to bankrupt the spammers faster,” he said.

He emphasized that node operators already reject invalid transactions, and filtering spam is no more “censorship” than ignoring a broken message.

In his words:

“So a node runner looking to remove retards’ spam is no less valid than retards’ spam.”

Ammous even floated the idea of hiring external developers to overwhelm spam systems, escalating the call to action beyond defensive coding.

Bitcoin Block Size Strains: From 1.5MB to 4MB?

The debate comes as data continues to show the network is feeling pressure. According to a Feb. 4 report by Mempool Research, the widespread use of inscriptions could cause the average Bitcoin block size to swell from the current 1.5MB to as much as 4MB.

That level of growth, if left unchecked, may affect transaction speed, fees, and accessibility — raising existential questions about Bitcoin’s long-term scalability.