Bitcoin's debate on whether to restrict non-financial data on the chain continues. Ordinals and Runes supporters Leonidas have recently proposed an open-source client plan called DOG Mode, in a direction contrary to BIP 110: not to upgrade the data space by consensus, but to ease the trunking restrictions on large transactions and small outputs.

DOG Mode bypassing miners to vote

BIP 110 Attempts to limit the writing of any data through user-activated soft fork require 55% of the miners to send a support signal. However, according to the data in the text, the proposal has received little support from miners during the current cycle, and historical support rates have not significantly exceeded low levels.

DOG Mode does not change the bitcoin consensus rule but adjusts which transactions the node is willing to forward. In other words, as long as there are nodes to run this client and at least one miner is willing to pack the relevant transactions, these transactions can theoretically be confirmed without waiting for a full-network vote or signal window.

Two adjustments refer directly to Ordinals and Runes

  • Raise the standard trade cap from 400,000 to 3.9 million
  • Dust limit from 294 to 546

The limit for bitcoin blocks is 4 million. Under the current Core default, node does not normally transmit a single transaction close to the size of the block; a transaction close to the entire volume can also enter the trunking process if implemented as envisaged by DOG Mode.

Another change is the downward revision. Ordinals needs to embed pictures, text, etc. into the transaction, while Runes is used to issue tradable coins on bitcoin, both of which require more bitcoin to be attached to the output to meet the current minimum output threshold. Leonidas states that, if the threshold is lowered to 1 hearing, about $25 million of “filling funds” in the associated ecology could be released.

It's still at the initiative stage.

DOG Mode, however, is not yet a published software. Leonidas is known as a client initiative and calls for developers to participate in the first version of the development and for the support of miners.

At the time of the release of the report, the project had no code warehouse, version number or performance test results. CoinDesk also mentioned that Leonidas was a co-founder of Runestone and an active promoter in the Ordinals and Runes communities, and that its proposed dost adjustment could have a direct impact on the efficiency of the use of funds in the relevant currency ecology.

In terms of current progress, BIP 110 and DOG Mode represent two different lines of thinking for the Bitcoin community: one wants to adopt stricter rules to limit non-financial data, the other wants to ease the existing relay threshold by replacing the client. The focus of the debate is moving from a chain consensus level to a nodal software and miner access level.