⚖️ Nick Szabo alert: inserting arbitrary content into the blockchain can bring legal risks to Bitcoin
The legendary cypherpunk Nick Szabo — often pointed out as one of the possible creators of Bitcoin — reignited an old debate about the limits of blockchain use. 🧠
In a post on X (22/10), Szabo warned that storing non-financial data in Bitcoin blocks can expose node operators to serious legal and moral risks.
“Arbitrary content in blockchains makes them much riskier, legally and morally, to operate than blockchains confined to financial transactions,” wrote Szabo.
According to him, networks that do not allow for the selective removal of illegal or protected content — such as illegal material, confidential information, or data with copyright — become difficult to operate within the law, since each jurisdiction has different rules.
🧩 What is being debated:
The increase in the use of non-financial data in the Bitcoin blockchain;
The recent update of Bitcoin Core 30.0, which expanded support for OP_RETURN;
Protocols that insert images, tokens, and metadata directly into blocks.
Szabo argues that blockchains that disincentivize the storage of arbitrary data — through higher fees, byte limits, and stricter rules — are "much less risky to operate."
🔒 Szabo's return to public discussions also reignites his role as the ideological guardian of Bitcoin, advocating for the network to remain focused on its monetary function and the security of the protocol, away from fads and "shitcoins."
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