TLDR
- The BIP-110 enforcing chain is frozen at block 961,633 while Bitcoin’s main chain has reached block 961,744, a gap of 111 blocks
- Only 51 of 2,016 blocks in the previous period signaled support, equal to 2.53%, and zero blocks have signaled since mandatory phase began
- A pseudonymous group called Roughnecks mined both BIP-110 blocks using Ocean’s DATUM protocol
- Michael Saylor estimates 99.85% of Bitcoin’s hashpower stayed with the main chain
- At current hashpower levels, the fork could take roughly 25 years to reach its first difficulty adjustment
Bitcoin’s BIP-110 fork has effectively stalled after producing just two blocks. The enforcing branch has been stuck at block 961,633 since Saturday, while the main Bitcoin chain continued to advance normally.
Bitcoin worked exactly as designed. BIP-110 was free to fork, and the network was free not to follow. The result was decisive: about 99.85% of Bitcoin's hashpower stayed with Bitcoin. The BIP-110 branch mined only two blocks and is already more than 80 blocks behind.
— Michael Saylor (@saylor) August 9, 2026
The gap between the two chains stood at 111 blocks as of Sunday afternoon, up from 88 earlier in the day. No new block has appeared on the BIP-110 side for around 17 hours.
The fork was triggered when BIP-110 entered its mandatory signaling phase at block 961,632 on August 8. Nodes enforcing the proposal began rejecting any block that did not signal support through version bit 4.
A pseudonymous mining group called Roughnecks produced both BIP-110 blocks using Ocean’s DATUM mining protocol. Ocean’s BIP-110 endpoint showed around 257 PH/s of hashpower, but no third block has followed.
Support for the proposal was low before the mandatory phase began. Only 51 of the 2,016 blocks in the previous difficulty window signaled for BIP-110, amounting to 2.53%. Since the mandatory window opened, zero blocks on the dominant chain have signaled support out of 113 mined.
Why the Fork Is Struggling to Move Forward
The core problem is Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment system. The BIP-110 branch inherited the same mining difficulty as the main chain when it split, which is currently set at 127.48 trillion. With very little hashpower directed at the enforcing branch, finding new blocks takes far longer than Bitcoin’s intended ten-minute interval.
A difficulty adjustment can only happen after a full 2,016-block period is completed. Since the BIP-110 branch has only produced two blocks in the current period, it would need to mine through nearly 2,000 more before any relief arrives.
Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, estimated on X that around 99.85% of Bitcoin’s hashpower stayed with the main chain. He also estimated that at 0.15% of Bitcoin’s hashpower, the fork could take roughly 25 years to reach its first difficulty adjustment. Both figures are his own estimates.
Saylor had previously stated he supported BIP-110’s goals but opposed its method, arguing it threatened Bitcoin’s neutral consensus rules. Blockstream CEO Adam Back warned that the change could damage Bitcoin’s credibility and potentially make some transaction outputs unspendable.
BIP-110 supporters, including Bitcoin Knots maintainer Luke Dashjr, have argued the fork is necessary to limit non-monetary data storage in Bitcoin blocks.
Replay Risk Remains for Pre-Fork Coin Holders
There is also a practical concern for anyone holding Bitcoin that existed before the fork. BIP-110 does not include built-in replay protection. Bitcoin developer Kevin Loaec warned that attempting to move coins on the minority fork without separating balances first could expose the same coins on the main chain.
Mandatory signaling continues through block 963,647 on the BIP-110 timeline. The proposal is designed to enter a locked-in state at block 963,648 and activate one difficulty period later. Those milestones are reachable for the main chain but remain far off for the stalled BIP-110 branch.
Developers connected to the project have also prepared contingency code for a potential proof-of-work change. No activation date has been set.
As of Sunday afternoon, the BIP-110 branch had not produced a third block, and no dominant chain block had signaled support in the new difficulty period.
