Reminder:
The social contract wasn't broken by Core, it was broken in February 2024 when MARA launched Slipstream.
Slipstream is a service to mine any consensus valid transaction for the right fee, bypassing normal mempool policy entirely.
This contract was technically enforced by mempool filters like the 83-byte OP_RETURN limit, however Mara’s Slipstream proved that these filters were just "gentlemen's agreements" that large miners could bypass at will.
Core's op return changes 20 months later weren't "enabling spam", they were acknowledging this broken contract and that the filter had already failed because you can't enforce gentlemen's agreements when miners are openly advertising they'll ignore them.
These changes once again even the playing field for those wanting to get their transactions mined.
It's harm reduction, plain and simple.
theonevortex / Vortex | CTV | LNHANCE
npub1q5…k6dh3
2026-01-31 16:17:40 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1q5un2zq6d93ygesrg3rwmgehfkg9v5kah7pp0jy8pqvzdparxpnqkk6dh3Seen on
wss://relay.damus.ioPublished at
2026-01-31 16:17:40 UTCEvent JSON
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"content": "Reminder:\n\nThe social contract wasn't broken by Core, it was broken in February 2024 when MARA launched Slipstream.\n\nSlipstream is a service to mine any consensus valid transaction for the right fee, bypassing normal mempool policy entirely.\n\nThis contract was technically enforced by mempool filters like the 83-byte OP_RETURN limit, however Mara’s Slipstream proved that these filters were just \"gentlemen's agreements\" that large miners could bypass at will.\n\nCore's op return changes 20 months later weren't \"enabling spam\", they were acknowledging this broken contract and that the filter had already failed because you can't enforce gentlemen's agreements when miners are openly advertising they'll ignore them. \n\nThese changes once again even the playing field for those wanting to get their transactions mined.\n\nIt's harm reduction, plain and simple.",
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