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A minority Bitcoin chain tied to BIP-110 has nearly stopped producing blocks after separating from the main network on August 9. The branch mined two blocks during its first eight hours. Over the same period, Bitcoin’s main chain added 48 blocks, creating a wide gap between the two ledgers.
The BIP-110 monitor placed the minority branch at block 961,633 and Bitcoin at 961,681 during the reporting period. The split started at block 961,632. Nodes enforcing BIP-110 rejected AntPool’s non-signaling block, while a miner using Ocean produced a signaling block for the alternative branch. These figures describe the monitor’s snapshot after roughly eight hours of operation that day.
AntPool and Ocean operate mining pools, which combine computing power from many miners and distribute rewards. Pool names identify the service that assembled each block, not every machine owner contributing hashpower.
The fork’s small output indicates that most miners continued extending Bitcoin’s main chain after the split. No mining pool had shifted enough computing power to restore normal block production during that period.
BIP-110 proposes a temporary, one-year limit on several methods used to place non-financial data in Bitcoin transactions. These methods support images, text, and Ordinals inscriptions. The formal proposal limits some data fields to 256 bytes and OP_RETURN outputs to 83 bytes. It calls the change a way to “refocus priorities on improving Bitcoin as money".
Supporters say these restrictions would reduce storage demands on node operators and keep block space focused on payments. Critics reject that approach. They say users who pay transaction fees may use block space for any transaction that Bitcoin’s rules accept. The dispute centers on network rules, data storage, and control over valid transaction uses.
However, the breakaway chain inherited Bitcoin’s existing mining difficulty when it separated. Bitcoin adjusts that difficulty once every 2,016 blocks and targets one block about every ten minutes. The minority branch retained the same target while receiving only a small fraction of Bitcoin’s computing power. Its miners therefore need far longer to find each block.
The monitor estimated that the BIP-110 chain could need about 350 days to reach its next difficulty adjustment. Bitcoin would normally complete that interval in about 14 days. Recent signaling also offered little support. Only 51 of the previous 2,016 blocks signaled for BIP-110, equal to 2.53%, compared with its 55% threshold.
Meanwhile, both chains began with the same transaction history and balances. They also accept the same signed transactions. A transaction created to transfer coins on the BIP-110 branch may therefore remain valid on Bitcoin. Another party could copy that transaction and broadcast it on the main chain, moving the corresponding BTC from the sender’s wallet.
This replay risk affects users who try to move or sell coins from the minority fork without separating their balances. Slow confirmations add another barrier, as the branch has produced blocks several hours apart. The chain must also advance through the mandatory signaling window, which covers blocks 961,632 to 963,647.
Moreover, the proposal requires 1,109 signaling blocks within a 2,016-block cycle to reach its 55% threshold. The BIP-110 specification sets forced lock-in at block 963,648 and activation at block 965,664.
If the reported mining rate persists, the minority branch cannot approach those heights within the intended schedule. The main Bitcoin chain, meanwhile, continues processing blocks near its usual rate.
Also Read: When Will Bitcoin Price Recover?
