“Due to how censorship-resistant networks work, the tolerant minority sets the policy limits. And preferential peering amplifies this, so Knots nodes’ policies are actually almost completely ineffective — already, today, before Core 30 is released, and of course after.”
— Adam Back
This is an important admission.
What Adam is saying is that in a truly censorship-resistant network like Bitcoin, you don’t need the majority to agree on what’s allowed.
You only need a small group of nodes and miners willing to relay and confirm certain types of transactions — like inscriptions. That’s the tolerant minority.
Through preferential peering (nodes connecting mostly to like-minded nodes), these permissive actors form their own effective relay layer — and that’s enough to push data through the network.
Meanwhile, stricter nodes like Bitcoin Knots — which try to filter inscriptions and other non-financial use — become irrelevant. Their policies don’t stop anything. They just isolate themselves.
Bitcoin doesn’t grant power to those who restrict — it defaults to those who refuse to censor.
That’s how it was designed. That’s how it stays free.
GLACA
npub1rr…0eeul
2025-09-15 05:50:00 UTC
Author Public Key
npub1rr654u0pp3dm0g65dzc0v2eft5frg7gre8u4wwxsvhyyhmc5qths50eeulSeen on
wss://offchain.pubPublished at
2025-09-15 05:50:00 UTCEvent JSON
{
"id": "3c79c98db42d80b537f20602799fa8c9e2ac65271d078bc8e383fb0e3c9874da",
"pubkey": "18f54af1e10c5bb7a35468b0f62b295d12347903c9f95738d065c84bef1402ef",
"created_at": 1757915400,
"kind": 1,
"tags": [],
"content": "“Due to how censorship-resistant networks work, the tolerant minority sets the policy limits. And preferential peering amplifies this, so Knots nodes’ policies are actually almost completely ineffective — already, today, before Core 30 is released, and of course after.”\n— Adam Back\n\nThis is an important admission.\n\nWhat Adam is saying is that in a truly censorship-resistant network like Bitcoin, you don’t need the majority to agree on what’s allowed.\n\nYou only need a small group of nodes and miners willing to relay and confirm certain types of transactions — like inscriptions. That’s the tolerant minority.\n\nThrough preferential peering (nodes connecting mostly to like-minded nodes), these permissive actors form their own effective relay layer — and that’s enough to push data through the network.\n\nMeanwhile, stricter nodes like Bitcoin Knots — which try to filter inscriptions and other non-financial use — become irrelevant. Their policies don’t stop anything. They just isolate themselves.\n\nBitcoin doesn’t grant power to those who restrict — it defaults to those who refuse to censor.\n\nThat’s how it was designed. That’s how it stays free.",
"sig": "6f4cbcc81b96768aaded564d547aafe53f1f332f51bb7b8862e3f5a9199b837e01168d53ab475a80d5df1eda59230e63a269576e6d9c754102543857032da167"
}