Bitcoin Core developer Gloria Zhao has stepped down as a maintainer and revoked her Pretty Good Privacy (PGP) signing key, marking the end of her significant six-year tenure as one of the project’s gatekeepers.
On Thursday, Zhao made her final pull request to the Bitcoin GitHub repository, removing her key from the list of trusted keys and withdrawing from the small group of maintainers authorized to update Bitcoin’s software.
In 2022, she made history as the first known female maintainer, concentrating on mempool policy and transaction relay—the criteria and peer-to-peer mechanisms that determine which transactions are processed by nodes and how promptly they are disseminated across the network.
Gloria Zhao quit Bitcoin maintainer role. Source: GitHub
Zhao was instrumental in designing and implementing package relay (BIP 331) and TRUC (Topologically Restricted Until Confirmation, BIP 431), as well as upgrades to replace-by-fee (RBF) and enhanced P2P behavior, which improved fee adjustments and minimized censorship.
Her contributions were funded through Brink, where she became the organization’s first fellow in 2021, supported by the Human Rights Foundation’s Bitcoin Development Fund and Jack Dorsey’s Spiral (formerly Square Crypto), aligning her with a select group of publicly funded, full-time Bitcoin protocol engineers.
In addition to her technical role, Zhao mentored new contributors and co-managed the Bitcoin Core Public Relations Review Club, guiding junior developers on how to evaluate complex modifications and adjust to Core’s stringent review practices.
Controversy regarding OP_RETURN and Knots
Her resignation follows more than a year of public disagreements between Bitcoin Core and Bitcoin Knots, particularly the removal of OP_RETURN constraints, which debates whether Bitcoin’s default node software should restrict the use of block space for non-financial applications.
In 2025, Zhao deleted her X account following personal harassment during this dispute, especially after a livestream wherein a core developer questioned her expertise.
While certain critics of Bitcoin Core celebrated Zhao’s resignation, others expressed sorrow over the event. “They bullied her and made her life as miserable as possible until she rage quit; frankly, I believe their actions were tragic,” stated the anonymous Bitcoiner Pledditor.
Pledditor also added that this sets a troubling precedent, terming it, “sad and pathetic.”
“Congratulations, you finally achieved it. You pressured one of Bitcoin Core’s most prolific and consistently outstanding maintainers until she surrendered,” commented Chris Seedor, co-founder and CEO of a Bitcoin wallet backup firm.
