Why Bitcoin's BIP-110 refuses to die despite near-zero miner support
Reported by CoinDesk · AI-assisted summary by ChikoCorp AI News Desk
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Summary
Bitcoin's proposed upgrade BIP-110, which would temporarily restrict non-payment data on the blockchain, is approaching its mandatory signalling period around August 9, 2026. Despite minimal public miner support—under 3%—its proponents emphasize that BIP-110 is a user-activated soft fork (UASF), relying on node operators rather than miners to enforce the rules. Nodes running BIP-110 software plan to start rejecting non-signaling blocks at block 961,632, potentially causing a network split.
Why it matters
The BIP-110 situation highlights that Bitcoin governance is not solely determined by miner consensus but by broader economic coordination among miners, nodes, exchanges, and wallet providers. This underscores the role of user-activated soft forks in shaping Bitcoin's protocol, reflecting a power dynamic between users running nodes and large institutional miners. The outcome could impact Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism and network stability, prompting some exchanges to pause deposits and withdrawals as a precaution.
Key context
BIP-110 seeks to limit storage of non-financial data on the blockchain, targeting protocols like Ordinals and Runes that increase block size and cost to run nodes. It follows the recent SegWit activation model, which also used a UASF mechanism to activate despite miner resistance. The controversy over BIP-110 captures ongoing community debates about Bitcoin's purpose, on-chain data usage, and fee market dynamics.
Key numbers and entities
BIP-110 signalling is expected at block 961,632, with activation at block 965,664 about four weeks later. Miner signalling is below 3%. Notable figures Michael Saylor and Adam Back have opposed the proposal. The pseudonymous author of BIP-110 is Dathon Ohm.
What remains unclear
It remains uncertain whether BIP-110-enforcing nodes can attract enough support from miners, exchanges, and users to sustain a separate blockchain branch if a split occurs. The broader market and regulatory responses to such a scenario are not addressed by the source.