The BIP-110 minority chain has stalled after producing only two blocks, approximately eight hours after splitting from the Bitcoin main chain. At around 6:00 a.m. UTC, the breakaway network remained at block 961,633, while Bitcoin had advanced to block 961,681, according to the situation monitor. The 48-block gap underscores the fork's severe shortage of mining power.

The separation occurred at block 961,632, when block rejection due to insufficient signaling began on the BIP-110 chain. The first non-signaling block was generated by AntPool and remains valid on the main Bitcoin blockchain, while the alternative block was mined by an OCEAN miner. Both AntPool and OCEAN are pooled mining services that coordinate miners' computational efforts.

What BIP-110 Proposes

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110, or BIP-110, calls for temporary restrictions on storing arbitrary data within Bitcoin transactions. The proposal emerged from an ongoing debate that intensified after the launch of Ordinals inscriptions in early 2023, which enabled users to embed images, text, and other data directly onto the Bitcoin blockchain. Supporters argue that pictures, text messages, inscriptions, and similar types of content consume block space, thereby making ordinary transactions more expensive.

Opponents counter that users who pay fees for their transactions have the right to utilize block space as they see fit, making the underlying debate a question of network philosophy. This tension reflects a broader question within the Bitcoin community about whether the network should function primarily as a settlement layer for financial transactions or serve as a more general-purpose data platform.

Why the Fork Is Struggling

The immediate challenge facing the forked blockchain is inherited mining difficulty. Bitcoin adjusts difficulty every 2,016 blocks to target approximately ten minutes between blocks. The minority network inherited this difficulty adjustment system from the main chain but operates at a vastly smaller scale. At its current trajectory, the BIP-110 chain would require roughly 350 days to reach a difficulty adjustment, compared with approximately 14 days for Bitcoin.

Miner support was already far below the proposal's activation threshold before the split. Only 2.53% of blocks signaled for BIP-110 during the relevant two-week period, well short of the 55% requirement.

🚨BIP-110 MINORITY FORK STALLS AFTER JUST TWO BLOCKS! BIP-110, a temporary soft-fork proposal meant to limit non-financial "spam" data like Ordinals inscriptions on Bitcoin for one year needed 55% miner support, but only got about 2.5%. At block 961,632 on Saturday, nodes… pic.twitter.com/trB4PybtDF — Crypto Banter (@crypto_banter) August 9, 2026

🚨BIP-110 MINORITY FORK STALLS AFTER JUST TWO BLOCKS! BIP-110, a temporary soft-fork proposal meant to limit non-financial "spam" data like Ordinals inscriptions on Bitcoin for one year needed 55% miner support, but only got about 2.5%. At block 961,632 on Saturday, nodes… pic.twitter.com/trB4PybtDF

The low participation rate means the breakaway network depends on a limited number of miners, while the main chain continues processing transactions normally.

Market Impact and Next Steps

The BIP-110 fork creates risks for anyone holding or transferring its coin. Because both chains initially recognize the same transaction structure, a transaction spending forked coins could also be valid on Bitcoin, creating replay attack concerns. Slow block production further weakens settlement reliability and could make any market for the forked coin difficult to sustain.

The mandatory signaling window runs through block 963,647, but the minority chain is unlikely to approach that height at its current pace. The situation underscores Bitcoin's consensus model: a proposed rule can technically be implemented by a minority, but economic relevance requires miners, nodes, users, and markets to follow. Previous minority forks in Bitcoin's history, including smaller splits that also failed to attract meaningful hash rate, have struggled to maintain operational viability without sustained ecosystem support. Bitcoin remains dominant.