Bitcoin Ordinals Advocate Proposes New Client to Remove Transaction Limits
Bitcoin Ordinals advocate Leonidas has announced a proposal for a new open-source Bitcoin client aimed at removing transaction policy restrictions that he says limit how the network is used for Ordinals and Runes.
In a post on X on Friday, Leonidas introduced Bitcoin $DOG Mode, describing it as an alternative Bitcoin client that removes limits enforced by Bitcoin software rather than by Bitcoin’s consensus rules. The proposal targets transaction policies used by Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots, the two most widely used Bitcoin clients.
I am very excited to announce the launch of a new open source Bitcoin client called Bitcoin $DOG Mode.
Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots have spent years enforcing rules that Bitcoin itself does not have.
A transaction can be fully valid under consensus and still be blocked from… pic.twitter.com/WCJ9roEkeo
— Leonidas 🧡 $DOG (@LeonidasNFT) July 17, 2026
Leonidas said the goal is to encourage broader adoption of the client and eventually push Bitcoin Core developers to reconsider the existing transaction policies.
What changes would Bitcoin $DOG mode introduce?
The proposed client would raise the maximum transaction size from Bitcoin Core’s default policy limit of 400,000 weight units (WU) to 3.9 million WU, allowing users to include much larger amounts of data in a single transaction.
For Ordinals users, this could make it possible to create significantly larger inscriptions or even publish entire collections within one transaction, including transactions that use most of a Bitcoin block.
Bitcoin $DOG Mode would also lower Bitcoin’s default dust limit to 1 satoshi, compared with the current 294 to 546 satoshis required under Bitcoin Core’s standard transaction policy. This would allow much smaller transaction outputs to be created and relayed across the network.
Why is the proposal targeting Bitcoin core policies?
According to Leonidas, the restrictions enforced by Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots are policy rules rather than consensus rules, meaning they are not required by the Bitcoin protocol itself.
He argued that these limits unnecessarily restrict how developers and users can build on Bitcoin, particularly for applications such as Ordinals and Runes. By removing those limits, Bitcoin $DOG Mode aims to provide greater flexibility without changing Bitcoin’s underlying consensus.
The proposal adds to the long-running debate over how Bitcoin block space should be used.
Ordinals debate continues after Ord.io shutdown
The proposal comes months after Leonidas shut down Ord.io, one of the first Bitcoin Ordinals explorers, after the project ran out of funding. The platform, launched in 2023, had served more than one million users before announcing its closure in May. Its companion consumer app, Zap, also ceased operations due to weak user growth, while the team preserved Ord.io’s public data on GitHub for potential future development.
Interest in Bitcoin inscriptions has slowed since the surge seen throughout 2023 and early 2024. Although the Runes protocol generated $135 million in transaction fees during the first week after Bitcoin’s 2024 halving, network activity has since declined, emphasizing reduced demand for Bitcoin-based token and inscription activity.
Disclaimer: The content of this article solely reflects the author's opinion and does not represent the platform in any capacity. This article is not intended to serve as a reference for making investment decisions.
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