Bitcoin's BIP-110 Anti-Spam Fork Stalls After Mining Two Blocks
A contentious attempt to limit arbitrary data on the blockchain has effectively failed due to a lack of miner support.
A controversial Bitcoin fork based on BIP-110, designed to curb the use of arbitrary data on the network, has effectively stalled after producing only two blocks. The effort to implement anti-spam measures failed to gain traction, leaving the new chain stranded and significantly behind the mainnet.
According to reports from CoinDesk and Decrypt, the fork chain was roughly 300 blocks behind the Bitcoin mainnet as of August 11, 2026. The failure stems from a critical lack of hashpower; only approximately 2.53% of blocks signaled support for BIP-110, falling far short of the 55% threshold required for activation without a chain split. Because the fork inherited the high mining difficulty of the Bitcoin mainnet without the computational power to sustain it, block production has essentially frozen.
The Battle Over 'Spam'
BIP-110 was proposed to cap the size of arbitrary data that miners can embed within transactions. The proposal specifically targeted "spam" activities, such as Ordinals and inscriptions, which allow users to store data and digital artifacts directly on the blockchain. This created a sharp divide within the ecosystem between "anti-spam" advocates, who argue these practices bloat the ledger, and miners, who benefit from the increased transaction fees generated by the high demand for inscription space.
Implications for Governance
The collapse of the BIP-110 fork underscores the immense influence of the mining majority in determining the evolution of the Bitcoin protocol. By refusing to signal support for the change, miners have effectively rejected the proposed constraints on data inscriptions. This outcome reinforces the current status quo, where financial incentives—specifically the higher fees associated with arbitrary data—outweigh the ideological preference for a leaner blockchain.
What Remains
As the fork remains stalled, the network continues to operate under the mainnet's existing rules. While the BIP-110 camp sought to cleanse the chain of non-financial data, the market has signaled a clear preference for the current model. Decrypt noted that the event proves the system worked as intended, stating that while BIP-110 was free to fork, the network was equally free not to follow. Observers now watch to see if the anti-spam movement will pivot to a different technical approach or if the current era of inscriptions will remain the dominant force in Bitcoin's utility.