Stephan Livera Podcast Bitcoin spam debates with Charlie Spears | SLP724
Feb 21, 2026
Charlie Spears, writer and operator at BlockSpace who runs Opnext, walks through the long-running debates about Bitcoin spam, ordinals and protocol vs policy solutions. He explains client diversity, how spam vectors evolve, and why on-chain data discussions matter. Conversation covers BIP-110, filter proposals, fee-market dynamics, and the role of conferences in shaping development.
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Debate Rehashed Since Ordinals Emerged
- The modern spam and filter debate really restarted with Ordinals in early 2023 and has mostly rehashed the same points since then.
- Charlie Spears says little new information has been introduced and the argument has evolved but not progressed.
Policy Is Temporary, Consensus Lasts
- Policy rules are temporary guardrails that help Bitcoin bootstrap but cannot solve adversarial future attacks long-term.
- Charlie argues meaningful limits on data require consensus changes if Bitcoin aims for global adoption.
Contiguity Filters Aim To Raise Spam Cost
- The strongest steel-man for contiguous-data filtering is that it raises the cost of spam by limiting easy embedding methods.
- Charlie rejects legal or moral censorship at protocol level and says legality varies by jurisdiction.