Bitcoin $DOG model aims to remove Bitcoin core relay policy restrictions

A new proposal called the "Bitcoin $DOG Model"

A new proposal called the "Bitcoin $DOG Model" has joined the ongoing debate about how the Bitcoin network should handle Ordinals, Runes and other non-financial data. The proposal was put forward by Leonidas, co-founder of the Runestone project and a leading advocate of the Bitcoin Ordinals ecosystem. The DOG model is an alternative open source Bitcoin client designed to remove some relay policy restrictions in the Bitcoin core without changing Bitcoin's consensus rules.

What is the Bitcoin $DOG model?

The Bitcoin $DOG model is not a hard fork, a soft fork, or a new blockchain. It is a set of alternative Bitcoin node implementations that change the way participating nodes relay valid Bitcoin transactions in the network. Unlike proposals that attempt to modify the Bitcoin protocol itself, the DOG model only adjusts the software policies that determine which transactions nodes forward to peers. Since the consensus rules remain unchanged, any transactions relayed through the DOG model remain fully compatible with the existing Bitcoin network.

Why did the DOG model be proposed?

The proposal comes amid ongoing discussions around Bitcoin's core transaction relay strategy and the future direction of non-financial data stored on Bitcoin. It follows extensive debate over proposals such as BIP-110, which seeks to restrict certain types of non-financial transaction data. Leonidas believes that the current relay strategy at the core of Bitcoin unnecessarily limits the legitimate transactions used by applications built on Bitcoin, including: Ordinals inscriptions, Runes protocol transactions, on-chain digital art, and other metadata-based Bitcoin applications. Under the proposal, removing these relay restrictions would make Bitcoin more flexible for developers while retaining existing consensus rules on the network.

Proposed major changes

The DOG model introduces two major relay policy changes aimed at improving transaction dissemination on the Bitcoin network.

1. Greater transaction relay limits

Bitcoin core currently limits relay for a single transaction to approximately 400,000 weight units. The DOG model proposes to increase this limit to approximately 3.9 million weight units, almost close to the maximum size of the entire Bitcoin block. The proposal argues that the change will allow larger transactions, especially those related to the inscription of Ordinals, to spread across the network without relying on complex transaction structures.

2. Lower dust limits

比特币核心目前将低于约 294–546 聪的产出视为粉尘，这意味着许多节点拒绝中继这些交易。DOG 模式提议将粉尘阈值降低至仅 1 聪。支持者认为，这将消除 Ordinals 和 Runes 交易中常用的额外“填充”产出的需求，使交易更高效，同时减少锁定在小额产出中的不必要比特币。

潜在的经济影响

我非常激动地宣布推出一个名为 Bitcoin $DOG Mode 的新开源比特币客户端。比特币核心和比特币节点多年来一直在强制执行比特币本身并不存在的规则。一笔交易在共识上完全有效，却仍可能被阻止……
—— Leonidas$DOG (@LeonidasNFT) 2026年7月17日

据 Leonidas 称，当前的中继限制迫使用户将价值近 2500 万美元的 BTC 锁定在仅为满足中继策略要求而创建的低效交易结构中。如果 DOG 模式在矿工和节点运营者中获得采用，支持者认为，大部分资金将得以释放，同时简化基于比特币的应用程序的交易构建。

无需改变共识

A distinctive feature of the DOG model is that it does not change Bitcoin's consensus rules. Therefore, the proposal does not require: hard forks, soft forks, network-wide protocol upgrades, consensus rule changes. It only changes the default relay behavior of participating nodes. Transactions accepted by the DOG model will still adhere to Bitcoin's existing consensus rules, which means that once the blocks containing these transactions are dug up, they will remain valid throughout the network.

Community debate continues

The proposal highlights the growing division within the Bitcoin community about the network's long-term goals. Some developers believe that Bitcoin should primarily serve as a decentralized currency network and support stricter restrictions on non-financial data such as images, inscriptions and other metadata. Others believe that if a transaction meets Bitcoin's consensus rules, relay strategies should remain neutral rather than selectively restricting specific transaction types. The DOG model reflects the latter approach, proposing a more relaxed relay strategy while keeping the Bitcoin protocol unchanged.

Current status

The Bitcoin $DOG model is still in the early open source initiative stage. At the time of announcement, a production version was not yet available, and the project was seeking developers, miners and node operators interested in contributing to its development. Wider adoption of the proposal will depend on the support of the Bitcoin ecosystem, especially miners and infrastructure operators responsible for network relay transactions.

截至 UTC 时间 11:26，据 CoinMarketCap 数据，DOG（比特币）交易价格为 0.0006024 美元。该代币在过去 24 小时内下跌 1.53%，延续了近期疲软走势。从更长时间范围看，DOG 在过去七天内下跌 5.53%，过去一个月下跌 5.31%。尽管短期回调，但在比特币 $DOG 模式提案公布后，该代币仍处于关注焦点。

比特币（BTC）交易价格走低，过去 24 小时内下跌 1.71%。整体市场回调之际，投资者继续评估围绕比特币网络和生态系统提案的最新动态。BTC 仍交易在 64,000 美元水平下方，延续了自 6 月初开始的看跌趋势。一个多月后，该加密货币仍处于关键心理价格阈值之下，反映出尽管时有反弹尝试，但市场持续疲软。