Saylor, co-founder of the company that owns the largest bitcoin treasury, believes that changes, even if well-intentioned, should be seen as a threat to the Bitcoin protocol. While he considers OP_RETURN changes to be a second or third-order modification to Bitcoin, he is also aware of the associated dangers.
The OP_RETURN Changes of Bitcoin Must Be Viewed as a Threat, Saylor of Strategy Asserts
While being concealed from investors and those in the investment world, the bitcoin community is facing a stalemate regarding recent proposals to modify node software. While some support removing the OP_RETURN limit to allow more data to be embedded directly on the Bitcoin blockchain, others are concerned about the impacts of these changes on the network.
Michael Saylor, Executive Chairman of Strategy, the company holding over 630,000 BTC, has remained silent on this issue. Now, Saylor has spoken out warning about the dangers of changing the protocol, emphasizing that he believes that changes could harm the future of Bitcoin.
Reflecting on the block size war and how it led to failed forks, Saylor stated:
Anyone proposing a change to the protocol must be considered a threat to the entire community.
Additionally, he claims that the backlash against these changes should be seen as healthy, as he assesses that any third-level protocol changes could escalate to become more significant issues.
Saylor explains that well-meaning developers wanting to upgrade the protocol is actually a risk to bitcoin. “If I wanted to destroy Bitcoin, I would just fund countless talented developers and tell them to improve it, you know, so they would do something,” he emphasized.
“I think we should be extremely cautious about improving the protocol or anything that looks like an improvement to the protocol, as the absence of a key feature is a feature,” he concluded.
Saylor's views, sometimes controversial from the business world, show a preference for freezing the protocol, limiting changes to Bitcoin due to its value as an investment asset. However, changes to fix bugs, protect the protocol, or “make it compatible” will still be accepted.
