Would OP_SUCCESS (OP_CAT) be spent?

In an intriguing exploration of blockchain security and miner ethics, a programmer tested the waters by locking funds using a script that essentially makes them unspendable without support for OP_CAT, as outlined in Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 347. The script placed on the utxo includes a directive not to spend the funds without this specific operation, hinting at a broader question of whether miners would respect the encoded instructions or exploit the vulnerability for personal gain. This experiment was conducted on a utxo with the transaction ID 26af7ad831751354e600d3c4b373b02b6fafe1277adaec9d4a79a28de77a427b:0, where the funds were deliberately locked to an unspendable key (50929b74c1a04954b78b4b6035e97a5e078a5a0f28ec96d547bfee9ace803ac0).

The core of the inquiry lies in the technical specifics of the locking script used, which reads: "30202d20444f204e4f54205350454e4420574954484f5554204f505f43415420284249502d3334372920535550504f52547e4a4920535550504f5254204f505f43415420284249502d33343729202d20444f204e4f54205350454e4420574954484f5554204f505f43415420284249502d3334372920535550504f525487" <" - DO NOT SPEND WITHOUT OP_CAT (BIP-347) SUPPORT"> OP_CAT <“I SUPPORT OP_CAT (BIP-347) - DO NOT SPEND WITHOUT OP_CAT (BIP-347) SUPPORT”> OP_EQUAL. This script is a clear message to miners about the conditions under which the utxo should be considered spendable.

Despite the potential for miners to ignore these instructions and attempt to claim the locked funds, the involvement of Mara's Slipstream service—a platform presumably capable of bypassing such restrictions—showed respect for the protocol's rules by not spending the utxo. This outcome suggests a level of integrity and adherence to the intended use of blockchain technologies, even when faced with opportunities to circumvent established guidelines.

The programmer's initiative to make this case more public serves not only as a test of the blockchain community's principles but also as a demonstration of the practical application of BIP-347 in controlling utxo spendability. Through this act, there is an exploration into how modifications like OP_SUCCESSx are treated in real-world scenarios, particularly before the implementation of a soft fork that would officially incorporate such changes into the protocol.