INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Bitcoin Knots, first released by developer Luke Dashjr in the early 2010s, has long offered a more configurable and policy-agnostic
alternative to Core.Currently, most nodes use the Bitcoin Core client to support the Bitcoin network
However, Bitcoin Knots has grown an impressive 638% since the start of the year, jumping from only 394 nodes to 2,909 nodes as of June 19
This massive growth rate started to see significant upticks in May and now makes up 13.24% of all the nodes supporting the Bitcoin
Source: coin.danceThe last time node counts shifted this dramatically was in 2017, on the eve of the SegWit2x showdown
Back then, disagreements over block size and miner power fractured the network into Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.Now, another schism may be
that were too controversial or too early for mainline adoption
influence.From March 2016 through early 2022, node counts barely breached 200
Even during the Ordinals surge in 2023, when BRC-20 tokens and Bitcoin-based inscriptions strained blockspace and sparked renewed debate
over what Bitcoin is for, Knots only briefly crested above 1,000 nodes before dropping back.Then came late 2024
As murmurs of an OP_RETURN cleanup in Core began to circulate, couched in language about pruning, feed efficiency and mempool hygiene, Knots
By early 2025, it had tripled
By June 19, 2025, it stood at 2,909, with growth still accelerating.Related: Rushing OP_CAT on Bitcoin could come at an immense security
costThe message behind the numbers is evident
Where it was once assumed that Bitcoin Core spoke for Bitcoin itself, there is a growing appetite for pluralism and perhaps even open
defiance.Bitcoin schism in October 2025?Tensions escalated further on June 6, when Bitcoin Core developers published a statement signaling a
The announcement avoided specific terms such as OP_RETURN or Ordinals, but its implications were clear
Under the new posture, Core clients may soon stop relaying non-standard transactions by default, even if those transactions are valid under
enables arbitrary data to be embedded in Bitcoin transactions
While this opcode has historically been capped at 80 bytes and discouraged in practice, it has underpinned everything from token issuance
via Omni and Counterparty to NFT-style Ordinals in recent years.Some developers argue that these transactions bloat the chain, crowd out
financial activity and should be deprioritized
If a transaction is valid by consensus rules and pays a competitive fee, it should be relayed and mined.Knots, notably, do not implement
these policy-level filters unless explicitly configured
Its rise suggests that the non-neutrality narrative around Core is gaining traction
hard fork scenario, but it is inching closer
The 2017 SegWit upgrade reached a boiling point when divergent software choices became incompatible
more than 13% of the network already running Knots, this is not just a protest vote but the beginning of a parallel consensus.Price may be
1, 2017, markets responded with volatility but no collapse.As Cointelegraph reported, Bitcoin (BTC) dropped approximately 5.6%, falling from
about $2,875 on July 31 to $2,718 on the fork day.However, this dip proved short-lived
Throughout August, BTC surged nearly 49%, closing strong at around $4,050, and continued its meteoric rise to almost $20,000 by December
Meanwhile, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) launched trading at approximately 0.0045?BTC (~$240) and skyrocketed to 0.283?BTC (~$1,500) before stabilizing
rate from May through October 2025, there will be over 5,000 nodes running the Knots client
That will equate to around 23% of the entire Bitcoin network.That level of adoption would mark the largest divergence from Bitcoin Core
