Bitcoin (BTC) BIP-110 Signaling Begins at Block 961,632

Bitcoin News

Bitcoin (BTC) entered the mandatory-signaling stage of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 at block 961,632 on Saturday, opening a formal test of whether a small group of enforcing nodes can pressure the network into accepting a temporary block-space rule change. On-chain signaling data shows only 51 of the prior 2,016 blocks carried the required version bit 4 signal, equal to 2.53% and far below the 55% threshold needed for early activation. From the activation height, nodes running BIP-110-aware software began rejecting blocks that omit the signal, while standard nodes continued to accept both signaling and non-signaling blocks. That split produced a short-lived minority chain, but it quickly lagged the dominant Bitcoin ledger because most hash power ignored the signal. The mechanics make the immediate fork risk asymmetrical: users enforcing the proposal can separate themselves from the main chain, yet they cannot force miners to follow without enough ASIC mining capacity to make the alternative chain economically viable. The deployment window runs through block 963,647. Under the proposal text, block 963,648 would mark locked-in status, and block 965,664 would put the transaction restrictions into effect if activation is achieved. With such thin signaling, a sustained rival chain appears unlikely unless substantially more miners join the enforcing branch, because a minority chain could progress slowly or cease producing new blocks. The proposal, authored by pseudonymous developer Dathon Ohm, would impose about one year of new limits on transaction data. Its supporters frame the measure as a way to discourage inscriptions and other non-monetary payloads that raise storage and bandwidth demands for node operators. Its critics, including Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor and Blockstream CEO Adam Back, warn that the change could cause nodes to reject transactions that remain valid under existing rules and could divide the network during a contentious fight over block-space policy.

The second development around Bitcoin is the political and activation strategy being framed by BIP-110 supporters, who are treating the move as a user-activated soft fork rather than a miner-led upgrade. The signaling period began at roughly 19:35 UTC on Saturday, when the network reached block 961,632, and the plan depends on node operators updating software to reject blocks that fail to set version bit 4. In that model, miners are not the first movers; users attempt to make the prevailing economic chain follow their rules by refusing blocks mined without the signal. This approach consciously echoes the 2017 SegWit activation fight, when BIP-148 helped push users to enforce support and eventually broke a stalemate. Its backers nevertheless argue that node operators, not miners, should be the final check when block-space use becomes contentious. The current setup, however, starts from a much weaker miner base, with support seldom above 2.5% earlier in the window and the latest on-chain reading at 2.53%. The practical consequence is that enforcing users may temporarily reject the chain being extended by almost the entire mining industry, creating two possible networks: a main chain still supported by most hash power and institutional capital, and a minority chain maintained only by BIP-110 nodes. A weak branch may produce blocks slowly or stop, while the main chain continues for non-enforcing users. That minority chain could attract more participants and pressure miners, or it could stall if it lacks enough work to produce blocks reliably. The window is expected to run for about four weeks until block 965,664, making the next period a live test of whether economic nodes can compel a rule change without broad ASIC mining support. The fight is also being watched beyond Bitcoin, because the outcome may shape how future block-space disputes are handled across the wider altcoin sector and under different market conditions, including a bear market.

COINOTAG’s analysis is that both developments frame a single question: whether Bitcoin’s block-space policy can be changed through economic-node enforcement rather than miner signaling. The BIP-110 specification designates blocks 961,632 through 963,647 for mandatory signaling, treats block 963,648 as the locked-in trigger, and schedules the temporary limits for block 965,664. The rules would cap new output scripts at 34 bytes, restrict OP_RETURN to 83 bytes and limit selected data pushes to 256 bytes. Node operators running enforcing builds must now decide whether to reject non-signaling blocks, accepting the risk of splitting from the majority chain.