According to @BitMEXResearch, the post contrasts spam-deterrent relay filters with running blocksonly mode on Bitcoin nodes and asks whether blocksonly would deter all transactions, highlighting how node policy affects propagation and fee dynamics, source: BitMEX Research on X, Sep 28, 2025. In Bitcoin Core, blocksonly mode disables inbound transaction relay from peers while still receiving and validating blocks, and locally created transactions can still be broadcast via other nodes, so it does not stop transactions from being mined network-wide, source: Bitcoin Core documentation. Bitcoin’s standardness and relay filters are designed to reduce spam and DoS risk by not relaying non-standard or too-low-fee transactions, which is a mempool policy layer distinct from blocksonly mode, source: Bitcoin Core policy documentation. For traders, relay policy and filtering primarily affect the fee market and confirmation latency, which change on-chain settlement costs and arbitrage timing for BTC, impacting spreads and execution risk during congestion, source: Bitcoin Core documentation; Kaiko research. Historical episodes of elevated mempool congestion and rising feerates have coincided with more volatile BTC basis and funding as settlement frictions increase, informing risk management for derivatives and spot-perp strategies, source: Glassnode research 2023–2024; Kaiko market reports. Actionably, monitor mempool size, median feerate and average confirmations as leading indicators of short-term BTC liquidity and withdrawal or deposit latency rather than assuming blocksonly adoption suppresses transactions across the network, source: Bitcoin Core documentation; mempool.space data.

According to BitMEX Research, the team contrasted Bitcoin Core with Bitcoin Knots and highlighted a proposed middle-ground client that will not start unless the user manually enters an OP_RETURN relay limit. Source: BitMEX Research on X, Sep 26, 2025. BitMEX Research drew attention to OP_RETURN relay policy configuration as a differentiator between implementations, while providing no parameter values, timelines, or release details in the post. Source: BitMEX Research on X, Sep 26, 2025. Traders tracking BTC network microstructure can note the explicit focus on OP_RETURN relay limits in client policy discussions flagged by BitMEX Research. Source: BitMEX Research on X, Sep 26, 2025.

According to BitMEX Research, home “pleb” node runners who do not send transactions can sometimes influence Bitcoin by supporting looser policy rules, while they are largely ineffective at tightening policy rules. Source: BitMEX Research on X, Sep 16, 2025. This view is consistent with Bitcoin Core documentation that policy and standardness are non-consensus, node-local rules, so transactions rejected by some nodes can still propagate and be mined if other nodes use looser relay policy. Source: Bitcoin Core Documentation, Policy, accessed Sep 16, 2025. For traders, this asymmetry means relaxations in relay policy can spread bottom-up without miner coordination, potentially broadening transaction relay and shifting mempool composition and fee dynamics that affect BTC on-chain costs and timing. Source: BitMEX Research on X, Sep 16, 2025; Bitcoin Core Documentation, Policy, accessed Sep 16, 2025. Conversely, rapid community-driven tightening is less likely to be effective without adoption by miners and major relays, making miner policy signals and fee-rate curves key monitoring points for BTC liquidity and execution risk. Source: BitMEX Research on X, Sep 16, 2025; Bitcoin Core Documentation, Policy, accessed Sep 16, 2025; Bitcoin.org Developer Guide, Fees, accessed Sep 16, 2025.