Adam Back Joins Battle for Bitcoin’s Soul Against ’JPEG Spam’ Invasion

Bitcoin's core identity faces its greatest threat yet—and crypto pioneer Adam Back just entered the fray.

The JPEG Onslaught

Ordinals inscriptions flood the blockchain with everything from digital art to memes, clogging networks and driving fees sky-high. Purists call it spam; innovators call it progress. Back's intervention signals a watershed moment in the protocol's evolution.

Network Under Siege

Transaction fees hit levels not seen since 2021's bull run—because nothing says 'digital gold' like paying $50 to confirm a kitten JPEG. Miners profit while users rage-quit. The very scalability debates we thought were buried now resurface with vengeance.

The Ideological Divide

Maximalists demand pristine financial infrastructure. Progressives champion creative expression. Back's stance? Likely leaning toward preservation—after all, this is the man who invented Hashcash before Satoshi even emailed him. His voice could tip the scales.

Finance's Ironic Jab

Traditional bankers must be laughing into their champagne flutes—Wall Street spent years fearing crypto's disruption, only to watch it argue over cartoon penguins. Meanwhile, the real revolution waits patiently for adults to reclaim the room.

Bitcoin's soul isn't just at stake—it's on the auction block, and the highest bidder might just be a pixelated monkey.

Bitcoin's core mission

The proponents of developments enabled by the Taproot upgrade, such as Ordinals, meanwhile, argue that as long as users are willing to pay for block space, they are a valid use of the network.

Being a permissionless system, there should be no dictating of what Bitcoin can and cannot be used for, as this goes against the ethos of decentralization upon which it was built.

Furthermore, the "JPEG spam" also strengthens the economic incentive for miners to maintain the Bitcoin network, which could become increasingly vital as the block rewards they receive are cut by 50% every four years.

While miners benefit from higher fees, Back argues the effect is minimal once the hashrate has increased and costs are factored in. He estimated that JPEG inscriptions may contribute just 0.1% to mining profits, far outweighed by potential reputational harm, higher transaction costs for ordinary users, and reduced accessibility to Bitcoin’s CORE function as a peer-to-peer money system.

Divided community

The issue is therefore a divisive one in the Bitcoin community.

Supporters view inscriptions as legitimate economic activity and the use of the blockchain. Critics, including Back, say they waste block space and displace activity that strengthens Bitcoin’s value proposition.

Back floated possible remedies, including outreach to miners and pools to discourage processing such transactions, and wallet-level changes that could steer fees toward those rejecting them. While warning of centralization risks, he suggested even small economic nudges could make mining JPEG inscriptions unprofitable.