Bitcoin contributor Greg Maxwell has defended the network's open, censorship-resistant protocol, emphasizing the importance of maintaining permissionless access over aggressive spam control measures. Maxwell argues that Bitcoin's design inherently tolerates various on-chain activities, including NFTs and 'shitcoins,' as a necessary trade-off to resist centralized moderation. This stance comes amid ongoing debates, highlighted by Vitalik Buterin, on whether Bitcoin's protocol maintainers should prioritize decentralization or yield to social and regulatory pressures.