Bitcoin’s BIP-110 proposal is moving closer to its early August deadline with almost no support from miners. The plan seeks to limit how users store non-financial data on the Bitcoin blockchain for one year.
Known as the Reduced Data Temporary Soft Fork, BIP-110 targets data linked to inscriptions, token records, images and text. Supporters want tighter limits on such activity. Critics argue that the proposal could create a network split without broad agreement.
BIP-110 would restore a smaller limit for data stored through OP_RETURN, a transaction field often used for short messages. It would also reject most arbitrary data pushes larger than 256 bytes and restrict script formats mainly used to store data.
The proposal would remain active for one year. Its supporters say the temporary rules would reduce data storage on Bitcoin and keep block space focused on financial transactions. They also cite concerns about blockchain size and the resources required to run a full node.
However, Bitcoin transactions can include both payments and added data. Ordinals, inscriptions and some token systems use script or witness data to place files and records on the blockchain. BIP-110 would make some transactions that are valid under current rules invalid after activation.
The proposal uses a user-activated soft fork rather than relying only on miners. Participating nodes would enforce the new rules even without full miner approval. BIP-110 sets a 55% miner-signaling target, below the 95% level used in some earlier activation processes.
Miner support has not moved above about 1% during any signaling period. The current rate stands at 0%, according to the BIP-110 signaling monitor. No major Bitcoin mining pool has announced support for the plan.
Node adoption also remains in the low single digits. Most participating nodes run Bitcoin Knots, an alternative software client to Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin Core remains the main software used by node operators across the network.
The current signaling period covers blocks 957,600 through 959,615. A voluntary lock-in deadline is set for block 961,542 during the next period. Network estimates place that deadline in early August, while activation is planned for around September.
Nodes running BIP-110 software would then reject blocks that fail to signal support. With few miners and nodes taking part, the proposal would not change the main Bitcoin network. Instead, participating nodes could follow a smaller chain with different transaction rules.
Strategy founder Michael Saylor opposed the proposal in a July 11 post. ‘There are 110 things more dangerous to Bitcoin than spam,’ he wrote.
Saylor said BIP-110 would turn a dispute over blockchain data into a consensus change. He added that the rule would reject some transactions that currently pay fees and meet Bitcoin’s existing requirements. ‘That precedent is the danger,’ he stated.
Blockstream co-founder Adam Back also rejected BIP-110. Addressing supporters, he said, ‘Bitcoin respectfully says no to what you want.’ He added that users could create a separate fork if they still wanted the proposed restrictions, but said the wider Bitcoin network would not join it.
The dispute follows increased use of Bitcoin block space for non-financial data. Still, protocol changes require users, miners, developers and node operators to adopt the same rules. Current signaling data shows that BIP-110 has not secured that level of support.
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