This is how tokens and images BRC-20 are accelerating the verification of the bitcoin node

In his latest report, Bitmex Research examined how BRC-20 tokens and ordinal images are affecting the Bitcoin node verification.

The study analyzed the data related to Ordinal in Bitcoin, including transactions count and data size, to determine its impact on nodes.

BRC-20 TOKENS STRAIN BITCOIN Nodes more than images

The September 8 report revealed that BRC-20 tokens create more problems for some Bitcoin nodes than ordinal images. In particular, the first constitutes 92.5 million transactions, while the second represents only 2.7 million, but both use approximately 30 GB of storage. However, BRC-20 transactions exert greater tension in the nodes, while the largest images based on images have little or no effect on performance.

Bitmex explained that large ordinal images are easier to handle for nodes than regular transactions, since they are stored in a non -executed part of the root witness and do not require signature checks. This makes them less demanding to verify and sometimes even useful to climb because they take blockspace without adding to the UTXO set.

On the other hand, BRC-20 transactions work more as the regular Bitcoin activity. Despite being smaller, they have expanded the UTXO set, growing from 84 million to 169 million between December 2022 and September 2025. This increase is creating challenges for nodes, especially those that operate those pruning. The data show that such transactions have paid higher rates per blockspace, contributing more than 5,000 BTC since the protocol was introduced.

The tests show that the largest order can accelerate verification

Bitmex conducted several tests for almost three years to measure the speed with which the nodes could download and verify the blocks with different levels of data related to the ordinals. The results suggest that large amounts of “arbitrary data” can actually accelerate the verification of blockchain, with about 11% of the differences in speeds due to larger inscriptions.

However, researchers warned that the results do not mean that ordinal images are good for Bitcoin. This is because registrations with data data use a lot of blockspace, which could expel financial transactions that are fundamental for the purpose of the network.

In other places, a separate study conducted by Glassnode found that ordinals and BRC-20 tokens are not displacing regular Bitcoin transactions. The main analyst of the firm explained that, on the other hand, they are providing more value, rates and data in each block.

In addition, Bitmex emphasized that findings are not conclusive because factors such as internet speed and hardware differences can influence performance. They also encouraged more evidence, pointing out that any small efficiency gain for nodes should be weighed with the broadest costs for the Bitcoin network.