- Bitcoin wallet provider Samourai Wallet has accused Ocean Mining Pool of censoring transactions.
- Ocen Mining was specifically accused of censoring Whirlpool CoinJoin and BIP47 notification transactions.
- Ocean founder Luke Dashjr denies intentional censorship and claims the issue is due to a bug in the Samourai Wallet software.
Recently, Samourai Wallet, one of the leading Bitcoin wallet providers in the cryptocurrency industry, accused Ocean, a popular BTC mining pool, of censoring certain Bitcoin transactions.
The controversy included technical accusations as well as criticism of industry figures, including Luke Dashjr, Bitcoin Core developer and founder of Ocean.
we can check it @ocean_mining Effective December 6, 2023, we have enacted a policy to censor Whirlpool CoinJoin transactions and BIP47 notification transactions.
This is a regrettable action by the operator. @jack and @LukeDashjr It’s far superior to any hostile action we’ve seen before.
— Samourai Wallet (@SamouraiWallet) December 7, 2023
Ocean’s wife and counterclaim
Ocean Mining Pool immediately refuted Samourai Wallet’s claims, claiming that the censorship was not a deliberate policy but a bug within the wallet provider’s software. Luke Dashjr dismissed these claims and suggested that the onus is on Samourai Wallet to fix the problem.
This is a bug in the software and not an intentional policy on our part. Why exceed the standard 42-byte data carrier size?
What is this data for? I looked for a solution but couldn’t find any technical details.
Anyway, you should fix it…
— Luke Dashjr (@LukeDashjr) December 7, 2023
The technical discrepancy centers around the 46-byte limit imposed on the OP_RETURN function, which limits certain transactions.
A community divided by criticism
The cryptocurrency community is divided on this issue. Some defend the “80 bytes is 80 bytes” view, emphasizing compliance with technical specifications, while others believe that the censorship claims may be unintentional and advise Samourai Wallet to work out bugs in its software.
Brad Mills of Nostr Wallet claimed, “We have no policy of censoring Whirlpool or privacy transactions.”
This is amazing. There is no policy to censor Swirl or Privacy Transactions.
The whole point of the Marine Game Changing Block Template Scheme and Coinbase Payouts is actually to protect your privacy.
Let us work sincerely.
Luke may not have wanted to before…
— Brad Mills 🔑⚡️ (@bradmillscan) December 7, 2023
As the accusations continue, Samourai Wallet remains firm in its claims, condemning Dashjr’s fraudulent activities and rallying the community to investigate the situation more closely.
This debate highlights ongoing challenges in the cryptocurrency space and highlights the need for collaboration and technical solutions to ensure the smooth functioning of the Bitcoin network. As the community awaits further development, the complex dynamics between wallet providers, mining pools, and developers come to the fore.