On May 16, 2026, user X posted a seemingly simple question. At 42 years old, his friend says he’s too old to invest all his money in Bitcoin. is that so?
Luke DaschleBitcoin developer answered. However, he declined to discuss his age or investment horizons. He said of the network’s fate: “It’s a gamble at the moment. If RDTS fails, it’s over for Bitcoin. If it succeeds, the sky’s the limit.
“Keep in mind that if Bitcoin fails, the entire economy is in for some really, really bad times. Fiat is doomed anyway. There is no such thing as ‘safe savings’ right now,” Dash Jr. continued. “Bitcoin is our last good chance.” And at the bottom there’s a disclaimer that says, “This is not financial advice.”
This statement carries weight because Dashjr is more than just a commentator. He is a historic contributor to the protocol and maintainer of the Bitcoin Knots client. One of the main promoters of this proposal, which he himself points out as decisive: RDTS.
What is the RDTS proposal in Bitcoin?
RDTS is an acronym for Reducing data temporary soft forks (Reducing data temporary soft forks). The proposal was officially registered as BIP-110 in the official Bitcoin repository, as explained by CriptoNoticias. attempts to limit the amount of arbitrary data that can be included in a Bitcoin transaction.
Simply understood, Bitcoin’s technical structure allows additional information beyond strictly monetary information to be attached to each transaction.
In recent years, its capabilities have been used for applications such as: Post images, text, and even entire files directly to the network. It is a phenomenon known as ordinal and inscription.
this Block sizes will increase, making nodes more expensive to operate and allowing someone to register illegal material — including child sexual abuse material — permanently.
The Bitcoin Core v30 update released in 2025 increased the range that Dashjr considers problematic by extending the limit for the OP_RETURN field, a technical field where data is embedded, to 100,000 bytes.
RDTS proposes to reverse this. soft fork– Rule changes to strengthen transaction validation without breaking compatibility with nodes that have not been updated. This restriction is temporary for approximately one year, but a final long-term solution is being designed.
Current status of BIP-110 proposal
This proposal was originally submitted to the BIP repository in October 2025 by a contributor identified as “Dathon Ohm”. Dashjr expressed support but denied writing it. Project is currently in draft state (draft), an early stage of the formal process.
It is worth clarifying that this implementation is included in Bitcoin Knots, an alternative client for the Bitcoin Core software maintained by Dashjr itself.
Bitcoin Knots v29.3 (released May 2026) already has RDTS built-in and requires explicit confirmation from users before activation.
Online support is still limited: According to the February 2026 report, approximately 583 nodes, representing approximately 2.38% of the total network, supported this proposal. Activating a soft fork without conflict requires a significantly higher critical mass.
This proposal considers two activation routes. One route is programmed when the block height of 965,664 is reached, and the other is a “reactive” route that allows the network to reorganize if illegal material is detected within the block. This second route was widely criticized by the community as technically risky.
This proposal provoked resistance on various fronts.. Martin Habovštiak, a Bitcoin developer from Slovakia, managed to upload an image in TIFF format that goes against the Bitcoin Notts proposal.
Dashjr says in his recent publication “No Threats.” Without a catastrophe.
Regarding the controversy over Bitcoin’s content blocking, he was more direct: “Think about banning child pornography being controversial.”
Is it really the end of Bitcoin or is Dashjr exaggerating?
Mr. Dashjr’s assertion (that Bitcoin will die if RDTS fails) is a personal position and may be valid within a technical discussion, but it is his interpretation and not the consensus. and, Given Bitcoin’s history, it seems unlikely that his prediction will come true.
Bitcoin has survived scalability wars, forks, adverse regulation, and multiple governance crises. History shows that networks are quite resilient; Consensus mechanisms tend to block changes that do not generate widespread support.
What is true is that RDTS debate touches on real and unresolved tensions– Should Bitcoin be a financial network only, or should non-financial uses of its infrastructure be allowed? There is no single technical answer to this question, and it is unlikely that one will be found soon.
(Tag translation)Bitcoin (BTC)
