OP_RETURN Risks and Network Policy Options
The September 02, 2025 episode of the Bitcoin Mechanic podcast features Jason Hughes explaining how large, contiguous OP_RETURN payloads change security, legal exposure, and network reliability.
Nodes
Core–Knots Split: Policy Drift, Fees, and Network Reliability
The September 27, 2025 episode of What Bitcoin Did features Samson Mow analyzing the Core vs. Knots split. The discussion centers on mempool policy divergence, OP_RETURN defaults, fee-floor erosion, UTXO growth, and governance trust.
Core 30 Relay Policy: Arbitrary Data and Node Liability
On August 30, 2025, Bitcoin Mechanic explained how Core 30’s relay policies may expand the propagation of arbitrary data. He argues this shift weakens plausible deniability for node operators and drives moderation toward miners and service gateways.
OP_RETURN Policy, Knots Defaults, and Node Sovereignty
The September 26, 2025 episode of The Bitcoin Way features Justin Bechler explaining why relay policy should prioritize monetary data. He critiques Core v30’s OP_RETURN ceiling as a hidden cost on nodes and presents Bitcoin Knots’ stricter defaults as a remedy.
Core vs Knots: Relay Policy, Consensus, and Practical Governance
The September 25, 2025 episode of THE Bitcoin Podcast features Michael Tidwell arguing that “Core vs Knots” is a relay-policy dispute rather than a consensus split.
Governance Trade-offs, Spam Policy Limits, Post-Quantum Paths, and the Human Attack Surface
The September 09, 2025 episode of THE Bitcoin Podcast features Jameson Lopp assessing governance choices, fee dynamics, and security priorities. Lopp contrasts policy-layer “filter wars” with consensus stability and argues that social engineering, not broken cryptography, drives the largest losses.
Bitcoin nodes - a primer
I used 37 Bitcoin Distillery briefing notes within the Nodes collection to create an AI-generated audio podcast that clearly explains the issues around Bitcoin relay policy, mining centralization, and the Core-Knots debate.