Great Consensus Cleanup Revival

In an exhaustive analysis of historical Bitcoin transactions, it was found that the adaptation of a proposed rule change to the BIP54 signature operations count would not have validated any previously invalid transactions. This conclusion is drawn from a detailed examination of specific transactions and their sigops counts under both the current and suggested rules. Notably, one transaction identified by its txid c51ffaf08188859669571f897f119b6d39ea48a9334212f554bf4927401b71f3 would have seen a minor adjustment in the number of BIP54-sigops counted, specifically 8 less under the proposed rule. However, this and other examples demonstrate that even with the suggested modification, there would have been no historical instances where a violation of the current limit would have been deemed acceptable.

Further scrutiny of various transactions, characterized by their unique transaction identifiers (txids) and corresponding sigops counts under both the existing framework and the proposed adjustment, reveals a consistent pattern: the proposed change does not affect the validity status of any transactions examined. The data spans a broad spectrum of sigops counts, reinforcing the argument against the necessity of the rule change for historical transaction validity.

The decision to refrain from adopting the proposed rule modification is bolstered by the consideration of potential implications for network costs and the lack of evidence supporting a pressing need for such a change. Transactions involving large legacy multisignatures (involving seven keys or more), which could theoretically benefit from the rule relaxation, are unlikely to become prevalent due to the inherent cost inefficiencies compared to available Segwit alternatives. This assessment is supported by the absence of legitimate use cases in the past that would have encountered the current limit, further justifying the decision to maintain the status quo regarding BIP54's sigops counting rules.