The OP_RETURN Controversy
Bitcoin Core v30 dropped OP_RETURN limits (unchanged through v31). Nick Szabo broke 5 years of silence to warn about it. Learn why roughly a quarter of reachable nodes switched to Knots.
What Makes Knots Different
Same consensus rules as Bitcoin Core by default. More features for power users.
Policy Control
Fine-grained mempool policies. Filter transactions, set dust thresholds, and control what your node relays.
Learn more →Wallet Features
Legacy wallet support, private key sweeping, Codex32 seeds, and enhanced signing capabilities.
Learn more →Extended RPC
Additional commands for fee estimation, block inspection, and wallet management.
Learn more →GUI Improvements
Dark mode, network monitoring, mempool statistics, and a polished Qt interface.
Learn more →Privacy Options
Built-in Tor subprocess, enhanced network privacy, and configurable peer settings.
Learn more →Mining Tools
Transaction priority, restored block size options, and getblocktemplate enhancements.
Learn more →Core vs Knots
Knots tracks Bitcoin Core releases while adding enhancements
| Feature | Bitcoin Core | Bitcoin Knots |
|---|---|---|
| Consensus Rules | Standard | Identical (RDTS soft fork ships in v29.3) |
| Legacy Wallet | Removed (v30) | Maintained |
| OP_RETURN Policy | No limit by default (100 kB) | 83-byte default, deeply configurable |
| Mempool Filtering | Limited | Extensive |
| Dark Mode | Partial | Full support |
| Tor Integration | Manual setup | Automatic launch |
| UPnP | Removed | Restored |
Quick Start
Get a Bitcoin Knots node running in minutes.
# Download from bitcoinknots.org
# Extract and run:
./bitcoind -daemon
# Check status:
./bitcoin-cli getblockchaininfoReady to Learn More?
Explore the documentation or download Bitcoin Knots to get started.