Bitcoin Knots, a configurable alternative to Bitcoin Core, has seen its node count surge by 638% in 2025, growing from 394 to 2,909 nodes, which now represents 13.24% of all Bitcoin nodes. This shift signals a growing distrust among technical participants regarding Core’s unilateral decisions about the protocol. Unlike previous disagreements focused on block sizes, the current debate revolves around the fundamental principles of Bitcoin. Tensions heightened with Bitcoin Core's announcement of a 'minimally permissive' relay policy, which may restrict non-standard transactions. If these changes lead to incompatibility with non-Core clients by October 2025, the potential for a hard fork looms, reminiscent of the Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash split in 2017. That split caused initial volatility in BTC’s price, but ultimately solidified Bitcoin’s dominance. A similar situation today could have significant market risks, especially as forecasts suggest Knots could expand to over 5,000 nodes, marking the largest split since 2017; this represents not just technical dissent but a call for a pluralistic approach to Bitcoin’s governance.

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