The growing adoption of Bitcoin inscriptions could push the average size of the blocks up to 4 mega -typing (MB), according to a report published on February 4 by Mempool Research. This significant development occurs in a context where the debate on the use of the Bitcoin network echoes the old “block wars” which divided the community between 2015 and 2017.
Towards a more massive bitcoin blockchain with blocks of 4 MB
The Bitcoin network is currently going through a major expansion phase. According to a new report by Mempool Research, the average size of its blocks now exceeds 1.5 MB, a notable progression since the Taproot update of 2021.
This growth is mainly explained by the success of “inscriptions”, a technical innovation allowing to integrate various types of data into the Bitcoin blockchain. The researchers have already observed blocks reaching 2.4 MB, and this trend could continue up to 4 MB per block if the adoption of inscriptions continues to accelerate.
“” We are considering different evolution scenarios ”specifies the report. “” Either a return to moderate growth as before inscriptions, or a rapid expansion up to 4 MB per block if their use is generalized. In the latter case, the Bitcoin blockchain could reach a size of a teraoctet between 2026 and 2029.
A changing ecosystem in the face of competition
The evolution of the size of the blocks is part of a broader transformation of the Bitcoin ecosystem. From Taproot, the network has seen emerging native decentralized exchanges and layer 2 scaling solutions, considerably enriching its initial capacities.
This technical expansion is timely, while the native decentralized finance of Bitcoin is expected as one of the most promising sectors for 2025. The acceleration of institutional adoption and the maturation of the Ecosystem DEFI on Bitcoin support this tendency.
However, Bitcoin faces increased competition from alternative blockchains. Networks like Solana, capable of managing blocks of 128 MB, or Celestia, which aims at GigaCtet, offer clearly higher storage capacities, allowing more complex transactions at a lower cost.
Block war echo
This technical evolution revives the memory of the “Bloc War” which divided the Bitcoin community between 2015 and 2017. At the time, two camps opposed: supporters of “big blocks” who wanted to increase the capacity to reduce the Transaction costs, and defenders of “small blocks” favoring the decentralization of the network.
Current debates on registration and BRC-20 tokens raise similar questions about the optimal use of blockchain space. If the increase in block size makes it possible to accommodate more innovations such as NFT and smart contracts, it also raises concerns about transaction costs and network accessibility for small users.
In short, the major difference with the historic debate lies in the fact that Bitcoin's technical architecture is today better established, with scaling solutions such as Lightning Network. The market will ultimately decide on the value of these new use cases, within the technical limits defined by community consensus.
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