Bitcoin BIP-110 Minority Fork Stalls After Producing Only Two Blocks
A contentious split aimed at banning non-financial data has frozen due to a lack of hashpower and inherited network difficulty.
A minority Bitcoin chain created by supporters of the BIP-110 proposal has effectively stalled after producing only two blocks. The split, which occurred on August 8, 2026, underscores the difficulty of forcing protocol changes on a network where the vast majority of mining power remains opposed to the shift.
The divergence began at block 961,632, when nodes enforcing BIP-110 began rejecting blocks that did not signal support for the proposal. While the dominant Bitcoin chain continued to advance—reaching block 961,681 by early August 9 according to CoinDesk—the enforcing branch froze at block 961,633. The only two blocks produced on the minority chain were mined by a pseudonymous group known as the "Roughnecks" utilizing OCEAN's DATUM system.
The Battle Over Block Space
BIP-110 was designed to temporarily ban the storage of non-financial data, such as text and images, within Bitcoin transactions for a period of one year. Supporters of the measure argued that such a ban is necessary to reduce network congestion and curb the use of the blockchain for non-monetary purposes.
However, the proposal faced stiff opposition from figures who argued that banning specific types of data violates the neutrality of the network and infringes upon the rights of users who pay for block space. The lack of consensus was reflected in the data: only 2.53% of blocks (51 out of 2,016) in the previous difficulty period signaled support for BIP-110, falling far short of the 55% threshold required for activation without a chain split.
Technical Deadlock and Market Risk
The minority chain is currently trapped by Bitcoin's inherent technical architecture. Because the fork inherited the main chain's massive mining difficulty, it cannot trigger a difficulty adjustment until it completes a full period of 2,016 blocks. With almost no hashpower supporting the split, the chain lacks the computational strength to mine new blocks at that difficulty level, effectively freezing the network in place.
Beyond the technical stall, the split introduces the risk of "replay attacks." This occurs when transactions made on the minority fork are rebroadcast on the main chain, potentially exposing the Bitcoin holdings of users who attempt to trade or move fork-specific coins without implementing strict balance separation.
The Path Forward
For now, the event serves as a demonstration of the resilience of Bitcoin's consensus mechanism. The network functioned as designed; while BIP-110 supporters were free to fork, the rest of the network was free not to follow, resulting in approximately 99.85% of hashpower remaining with the original chain.
Observers will now watch to see if the "Roughnecks" or other BIP-110 supporters attempt to implement a difficulty override to revive the chain, or if the fork will simply fade into obsolescence as the main chain continues to advance.