Bitcoin Knots, a fork of Bitcoin Core developed by Luke Dashjr, has gained significant traction, rising from 394 to 2,909 nodes since January 2025, now constituting 13.24% of the Bitcoin network. This growth indicates a growing distrust among some users towards Core's unilateral control over Bitcoin's policy. While the last major split in 2017 over block size led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash, this time the contention focuses on the underlying principles of the protocol. A critical update by Bitcoin Core developers is expected in October 2025, which may enforce stricter transaction policies. Bitcoin Knots, favoring a more permissive stance, is positioned to challenge this new direction. The potential for a parallel consensus looms large. If current trends persist, Knots could exceed 5,000 nodes by the fall, marking the largest deviation from Core since the 2017 split, potentially impacting Bitcoin's market stability and valuation.

Source 🔗