Michael Saylor said the biggest threat to the Bitcoin network is “ambitious opportunists” attempting to push through protocol changes.

What Saylor said

Saylor’s remarks set off a fresh round of online debate over whether Bitcoin should “ossify” with minimal changes or continue adding new capabilities.

Bitcoin maximalist Justin Bechler argued Saylor was taking aim at developers advocating non-monetary uses of block space, including NFTs and onchain images.

Pushback from developers

Helius CEO Mert Mumtaz criticized Saylor’s framing, arguing software needs to evolve and be patched.

Mumtaz wrote:

“Absolute cancer of a mindset. ‘Ambitious people wanting to evolve this technology are our biggest risk.’ Nothing is infallible. certainly not Bitcoin, which has had tons of bugs until now, like all other software — perhaps let’s let those bugs stay instead of patching them.”

Spam wars and BIP-110

Other users pointed to the “spam wars” and Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110, described as a temporary soft fork aimed at filtering non-monetary data from the Bitcoin ledger.

The dispute also touched on proposals like quantum-resistant wallet addresses and other expanded features.

Quantum threat debate continues

Investor Fred Krueger said the biggest risk to Bitcoin is quantum computing.

Venture capitalist Nic Carter has urged moving to post-quantum standards quickly.

Blockstream CEO Adam Back rejected those warnings as “uninformed,” saying developers are quietly doing the research.

Bitcoin market analyst James Check said quantum fears are not affecting the bitcoin price, and attributed a recent downturn to long-term holders selling.