Todays Top Stories

Editor: @PhoenixxDown

Vitalik Celebrates Bitcoin's Simplicity

The discussion around OP_RETURN, a small part of Bitcoin’s code that allows users to attach extra data to transactions, continued over the weekend with an unexpected new voice in the mix.

While not directly involved in the debate, Ethereum’s creator, Vitalik Buterin, praised Bitcoin for the strength of its simplicity, suggesting that Ethereum should move in that direction too.

That is striking, considering Ethereum was originally created to support features Bitcoin did not. As Adam Krellenstein pointed out on last week’s Ordinal Show, Ethereum was only created as a separate network because OP_RETURN was too limited for what Vitalik wanted to build.

That twist has not gone unnoticed. Ethereum, once celebrated for being complex and flexible, is now moving toward simplification.

And at the same time, Bitcoin is weighing whether to lift restrictions; a change that could allow new types of activity to make it more versatile.

The debate around OP_RETURN relay limits has clearly split opinion. Udi Wertheimer believes the technical case for removing the limits is valid. He also thinks the timing is off. With mempools mostly empty and little current demand for large data transactions, the current limits act as a quiet but useful deterrent to unnecessary use.

Others, like Seth For Privacy, argue that filters will never stop determined users. If there is demand, miners have clear incentives to include higher-fee transactions. In his view, a better solution is economic. If more people use Bitcoin for everyday transactions, fees will rise and price out frivolous uses naturally.

There is also concern about how the proposal started. As Udi noted, it seems to have come from a passing reference in a whitepaper by a small research group, not from strong community demand. That has sparked criticism over how changes like this are introduced and whether there is enough input from the broader ecosystem.

Additionally, it is extremely pleasing to see that Charlie Spears is still regularly updating his Filter Freakout Master Thread, showcasing all, the best—and very worst—takes of the debate:

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Todays Markets

Ordinals

A lovely green day on the Ordinals charts, with seven of the top ten collections moving upwards. That said, prices are still sitting near the lows we’ve been seeing for a while now, so let’s not get ahead of ourselves.

OMB Black Eyes have dropped to just above mint price, Taproot Wizard minters are still underwater, and Bitcoin Puppets are barely holding above 0.03 BTC.

There’s no shortage of posts on X celebrating the daily gains, but let’s stay grounded. Save your dopamine for when there’s a real shift in the trend.

In the bottom half, The Wizards of Ord have made a return. We’ve said before that it’s one of the best buys in this price range, and that still holds. Especially when you factor in the fee discounts on Lifofifo’s tools available to Wizard holders.

Here’s a video walkthrough of how user Mimmo inscribed using it:

OG Runes

$RSIC has dropped below the 0.5 sats mark. With no update on when “Secrets” will be revealed or what they even are, things might drift lower until Rune Dev reappears. If you're still a believer, a sub-$10 million market cap might look like a decent high-risk long-term bet.

The top mover today is $SAIKO, up 14 percent. Meanwhile, $PUPS continues to slide with no clear bottom in sight. The gap between it and $BILLY keeps narrowing.

A new name on the list, $MARSI, doesn’t yet have a well-established market cap. For anyone curious, their X account has a breakdown on how to calculate it:

OdinFun

FunkyBit

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