Adam Back Warns Bitcoin JPEG Spam Risks Network Utility, Fees

Adam Back, CEO of Blockstream, has raised significant concerns about the impact of JPEG inscriptions, often linked to Ordinals, on the Bitcoin network. He highlighted that these inscriptions have surged by 20% recently, contributing to billions in transaction fees and causing increased network congestion and higher costs, which price out new users from owning UTXOs. Back emphasized the tension between Bitcoin's role as a financial network and the wasteful use of its blockchain for storing non-monetary data like images, advocating that while miners earn fees from this activity, it ultimately burdens the network and users. He pointed out that mining pools using protocols like Stratum V2 can filter out unwanted data such as JPEGs, which could stabilize fees and improve network efficiency but also raises concerns about centralization and censorship. This filtering might also affect miner profitability and BTC market dynamics, potentially attracting institutional investors by reducing congestion-related risks. Back called for economically sensible measures and possible protocol changes to curb spam content while preserving Bitcoin’s core value, underscoring that ultimate control lies with economic nodes rather than miners alone.