Bitcoin Core developers debate CJDNS support due to low node counts

Bitcoin Core developers are debating whether to maintain support for CJDNS, an encrypted peer-to-peer routing protocol. The discussion follows findings that the network has extremely low adoption, with a recent check of a seeder database revealing only seven “good” nodes out of 25 known CJDNS addresses.

Concerns have been raised regarding security risks, specifically the potential for “eclipse attacks.” Because the pool of active nodes is so small, it becomes easier for malicious actors to isolate and manipulate nodes that rely solely on CJDNS for connectivity. Developers are currently weighing the engineering complexity and potential for bugs against the benefit of having a redundant, alternative transport layer to prevent censorship or single points of failure.

While the debate continues, a documentation change was implemented on August 18 to advise against operating solely via CJDNS. Any potential removal of the protocol would only affect network transport and peer connections; it would not impact block validation, transaction rules, or core consensus.