May 21, 2025

Chat_133 - Bitcoin Development & Controversy with Antoine Poinsot

1 hour 47 minutes

"People can use inscriptions today and they do use them.
If on the one hand you believe that marginally raising the costs to unwanted usage of the chain is going to succeed in discouraging them, which, fair, we can discuss it. I disagree but we can discuss it. On the other hand, you cannot say that, oh well, making it four times four times more expensive is going to incentivize them to do more of it. They are not compatible arguments.
So the OP_RETURN is not an invitation. It's not a signal to VCs or crypto or shitcoiners, because shitcoiners can already use the witness data today for four times less."
~ Antoine Poinsot

What happens when strong opinions collide in the name of Bitcoin’s future?

In this episode, I sit down with Bitcoin Core contributor Antoine Poinsot to explore one of the most heated and misunderstood technical debates in the space today — the controversy around OP_RETURN, spam filtering, and the deeper cultural divide over what Bitcoin should be.
Antoine reached out after and wanted the chance to present his views on the OP_RETUN debate and respond to some of Bitcoin Mechanic’s comments and criticisms from our Roundtable_009 episode. So I brought him on to make his case directly. We get into inscriptions, BitVM, node policy, mining centralization, and how to think clearly in a space full of noise and personal attacks.

If you've felt lost in the drama, this is the calm, thoughtful signal you’ve been waiting for.

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