Bitcoin BIP-110 Faces August Deadline With Miner Support Below 1%

BIP-110, formally the Reduced Data Temporary Softfork, seeks to tighten Bitcoin's consensus limits on OP_RETURN and other arbitrary-data methods for about one year, targeting Ordinals-style inscriptions without changing ordinary payments. Supporters say the measure would curb blockchain bloat and refocus Bitcoin on money; critics say it would censor transactions that are valid under Bitcoin Core and pay fees. Its user-activated design matters because nodes can enforce rules without miner assent, testing whether exchanges, custodians, users and hashpower will coordinate around the same chain rather than treating miner signaling as a binding vote.

Bitcoin reached block 961,632 on Aug. 8, 2026, opening BIP-110's mandatory-signaling window with miner support at about 2.53%, far below the 55% threshold, or 1,109 of 2,016 blocks. AntPool mined a non-signaling block on the main chain while Roughnecks produced a competing BIP-110 block; the minority branch added block 961,633 and then stalled under Bitcoin's inherited mining difficulty. Within roughly eight hours it had produced only two blocks as the main network moved 18 blocks ahead, with the gap later reaching 26. The episode left the proposal progressing by schedule but without the economic coordination needed for network-wide adoption.

BIP-110 is a contested temporary soft fork designed to reduce the amount of non-monetary data that Bitcoin transactions can carry, targeting inscription-based uses such as Ordinals. Supporters say the measure would protect scarce block space and reinforce Bitcoin’s monetary role. Critics argue it could set a censorship precedent, invalidate otherwise standard transactions and reduce fee income that miners increasingly rely on as block subsidies decline. The proposal has drawn opposition from Blockstream CEO Adam Back and Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor.

Foundry USA, the world’s largest Bitcoin mining pool with about 23.8% of network hashrate, opened a vote among mining customers in July 2026. Ballots are weighted by each miner’s average hashrate from July 6 through July 15, while Foundry released educational materials on July 21. Voting will close at Bitcoin block 961,632, expected in early August, and clients vote through emailed links. The outcome is closely watched because Foundry’s scale could materially shift signaling for BIP-110, which remained below 1% in mid-July.

BIP-110, or the Reduced Data Temporary Soft Fork, proposes a soft fork lasting about one year to restrict non-monetary data written to the Bitcoin blockchain through OP_RETURN, inscriptions and other methods. Supporters say it would curb blockchain bloat and preserve Bitcoin’s use for payments. Opponents argue that fee-paying transactions should not be censored, turning the dispute into a broader battle over block space and governance rights.

The first supporting block was mined on March 2, 2026. As of July 18, only eight of 940 blocks in the current signaling period had signaled support, or 0.85%, far below the 55% threshold, which requires 1,109 of 2,016 blocks. Strategy founder Michael Saylor and Blockstream co-founder Adam Back oppose the proposal. A mandatory signaling period is expected to begin in August, with activation possible as early as September, though the risk of a minority chain split remains.