Bitcoin Faces Potential Network Split as BIP-110 Soft Fork Approaches Activation With Only 2.4% Miner Support

Bitcoin faces a potential network split as the BIP-110 soft fork approaches its mandatory signaling phase at block 961,632 on August 8, 2026. Designed to temporarily restrict non-financial data like Ordinals, the proposal has only 2.4% miner support, far below the 55% activation threshold. While major pools like Foundry and Antpool reject the change, developers have prepared a controversial proof-of-work hard fork contingency. Meanwhile, a $88.6 million Coldcard wallet exploit has prompted activation delays.

BIP-110 activation deadline

• ▪The BIP-110 proposal is distributed primarily through the Bitcoin Knots alternative implementation, while the dominant Bitcoin Core software has not adopted it.
• ▪BIP-110 aims to temporarily restrict non-financial data in Bitcoin transactions for approximately one year by capping transaction outputs at 34 bytes and OP_RETURN outputs at 83 bytes.
• ▪The BIP-110 soft fork, formally known as the Reduced Data Temporary Softfork, is scheduled to enter its mandatory signaling phase at block 961,632, projected for August 8, 2026.

Miner signaling rates

• ▪Major Bitcoin mining pools, including Foundry, Antpool, F2pool, and Viabtc, have refused to signal support for the BIP-110 proposal.
• ▪The Ocean mining pool is producing effectively all BIP-110 signaling blocks after switching to signal for the proposal by default on July 15, 2026.
• ▪As of August 6, 2026, miner signaling support for BIP-110 stands at approximately 2.4% to 2.7%, far below the 55% threshold required for early lock-in.

Chain fork mechanics

• ▪Major international exchanges and custodians have remained silent on BIP-110, and spot Bitcoin ETF issuers like BlackRock have prospectuses stating they will not recognize forked assets.
• ▪At block 961,632, nodes running BIP-110 will begin rejecting blocks that do not signal support, potentially splitting the network into a dominant legacy chain and a smaller minority chain.
• ▪Australian cryptocurrency exchanges Hardblock and Bitaroo, along with Lightning Network tool provider Amboss, have announced contingency plans to temporarily freeze transactions during the BIP-110 activation window.
• ▪At current signaling levels of 2.56%, the BIP-110 minority chain would produce blocks roughly every 6 hours and 31 minutes, delaying full activation until mid-2028.

Proof-of-work hard fork

• ▪The proposed proof-of-work change would alter Bitcoin's mining algorithm, rendering existing ASIC mining hardware incompatible with the new BIP-110 chain.
• ▪Developer Chris Guida has rebased Luke Dashjr's 2017 proof-of-work hard fork code onto current Bitcoin Knots software as a contingency plan if miners block BIP-110.

Coldcard security vulnerability

• ▪BIP-110 developers postponed the planned activation of the soft fork following the discovery of a security vulnerability in certain Coldcard wallet implementations.
• ▪Blockchain analytics platform Onchain Lens estimates that attackers have drained at least $88.6 million through exploits linked to the Coldcard wallet vulnerability.

Industry opposition response

• ▪Bitcoin Suisse CEO Andrej Majcen questioned BIP-110, arguing that restricting one data-storage method will not eliminate unwanted blockchain activity as users will find alternative encoding paths.
• ▪Ordinals advocate Leonidas described BIP-110 as an attack on Ordinals and Runes, predicting it will fail to gain consensus and result in an unused minority fork.
• ▪Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor publicly rejected BIP-110, calling its 55% voluntary threshold impossible and urging the proposal's backers to stand down.