A debate has erupted among the Bitcoin community over a joint statement released by 31 Bitcoin Core developers on June 6.

In their statement, the developers argued that while the new transaction relay policy might lead to more non-financial use cases, protecting censorship resistance is one of the core tenets of the blockchain.

The developers noted that the Bitcoin network is "defined by its users, who have ultimate freedom" to choose whether they utilize the blockchain for financial or non-financial use cases. As such, the Bitcoin core developers are "not in a position to mandate" what software or policies they choose.