Why Bitcoin Blocks Stay Intentionally Simple

The 2017 fork was a first-principles battle over security and decentralization. Larger blocks increase throughput but centralize validation, creating a single point of failure.

• Key Conflict: On-chain scaling vs. Node decentralization.
• Result: Hard fork to create Bitcoin Cash; Bitcoin core retained ~1-4 MB effective limit.
• Legacy: Cemented the principle that layer 1 simplicity is non-negotiable, pushing scaling to layer 2 (Lightning Network).

While less severe than on Ethereum, Bitcoin MEV exists via transaction ordering in blocks, threatening fair access.

• Problem: Front-running and time-bandit attacks on ordinals and BRC-20 transactions.
• Solution: Fixed block interval and simple mempool reduce opportunities; FROST and covenants are proposed mitigations.
• Contrast: Avoids the complex PBS (Proposer-Builder Separation) arms race seen in other ecosystems.

Adding smart contract functionality (e.g., via Taproot scripts) increases attack surface and consensus complexity.

• Trade-off: Turing-completeness introduces bug risks that could threaten the $1T+ settlement layer.
• Design Choice: Opt for deliberately limited Script language, enabling innovation in client-side validation (e.g., RGB, Taro) without burdening consensus.
• Outcome: Bitcoin L1 remains a robust anchor; complexity is pushed to off-chain protocols and sidechains like Stacks.

The ~7 transactions per second limit is a deliberate bottleneck to ensure global node synchronization and auditability.

• Problem: Creates high fees during congestion, as seen with ordinals inscriptions.
• Solution: Not scaling L1. Instead, the ecosystem builds payment channels (Lightning), drivechains, and sidechains.
• First-Principles Reason: Nakamoto Consensus security requires slow, verifiable block propagation; faster blocks increase orphan rate risk.

Bitcoin prioritizes unforgeable costliness and decentralized consensus above all else. This creates a settlement guarantee that cannot be rolled back, making it the ultimate base for asset issuance and state anchors.

• Key Benefit: Provides a ~$1.4T security budget, secured by energy, not validator stakes.
• Key Benefit: Enables trust-minimized bridges and wrapped assets (like wBTC) by anchoring to its immutable ledger.

By keeping the base layer intentionally minimal (scripting, block size), Bitcoin pushes smart contract logic, scalability, and fast execution to higher layers like Lightning Network, Stacks, and Rootstock.

• Key Benefit: Base layer stability prevents consensus-breaking bugs and ensures backward compatibility over decades.
• Key Benefit: Allows for experimental throughput (Lightning: ~1M TPS potential) and DeFi without risking L1 security.

Fixed block intervals (~10 minutes), a transparent and diminishing emission schedule, and a deliberately constrained block space create a predictable economic environment. This is antithetical to the "flexible gas market" models of Ethereum or Solana.

• Key Benefit: Enables long-term security budgeting for applications and stable fee forecasting.
• Key Benefit: Forces efficiency and aggregation (e.g., batching, Taproot) at the protocol or layer-2 level, optimizing for value, not volume.

The simplicity of OP_RETURN and Taproot script flexibility unexpectedly enabled Ordinals and Runes, proving that even Bitcoin's minimal programmability can spawn billions in market value. This demonstrates emergent behavior on a fixed base.

• Key Benefit: Shows that niche opcodes can unlock massive new utility without a hard fork.
• Key Benefit: Creates a native digital artifact economy, separate from Ethereum's ERC-721 model, driving fee revenue and miner incentives.