Tech
Share this article

Bitcoin Core Developer Marco Falke Steps Down From Maintainer Role

Falke was Bitcoin Core’s most prolific contributor, with more than 2,000 commits over seven years.

By Frederick Munawa
Updated Feb 22, 2023, 8:14 p.m. Published Feb 22, 2023, 8:11 p.m.
Bitcoin Core developer Marco Falke (Twitter)
Bitcoin Core developer Marco Falke (Twitter)

Bitcoin Core developer, Marco Falke – the platform’s most prolific contributor – will step down from his maintainer role this summer, he wrote in a tweet published Feb. 21.

Falke racked up more than 2,000 suggested software changes known as "commits" over his seven-year tenure as a Bitcoin Core contributor. For three of those seven years, Falke’s efforts were funded by crypto exchange Okcoin and Web3 investment firm Paradigm.

STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the The Protocol Newsletter today. See all newsletters
By signing up, you will receive emails about CoinDesk products and you agree to our terms & conditions and privacy policy.

The storied developer reaffirmed his passion for Bitcoin and said he was “positive about the future,” but that his role was no longer a good fit.

“I am happy about my achievements,” Falke wrote. “And recognize that they would not have been possible without my sponsors.”

Marco Falke tweet. (Twitter)
Marco Falke tweet. (Twitter)

Over the past couple of years, several Bitcoin developers and maintainers have chosen to leave their various roles, including John Newbery, Samuel Dobson, Jonas Schnelli, Peter Wuille and Wladimir J. van der Laan.

The news of Falke's departure was reported Tuesday by the Wall Street Journal.

Read more: Bitcoin Core Developer Pieter Wuille Scales Back His Maintenance Role

Bitcoin NewsBitcoin Corebitcoin developersMarco falke

More For You

The Protocol: Robinhood unveils its layer-2 testnet

By Margaux Nijkerk|Edited by Sheldon Reback
12 minutes ago
Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev speaking at TOKEN2049 Singapore on Oct. 2, 2025.

Also: Citadel backs LayerZero chain, MegaETH mainnet debut and ENS scraps L2 plans

What to know:

Welcome to The Protocol, CoinDesk's weekly wrap of the most important stories in cryptocurrency tech development. I’m Margaux Nijkerk, a reporter at CoinDesk.

In this issue:

  • Robinhood starts testing its own blockchain as its push into crypto and tokenization deepens.
  • Citadel Securities backs LayerZero as it unveils ‘Zero’ blockchain for global markets.
  • MegaETH debuts mainnet as Ethereum scaling debate heats up.
  • Ethereum's ENS identity system scraps planned rollup after Vitalik's warning about layer-2 networks.
Read full story