Controversial BIP-110 Soft Fork Attempt Mines Two Blocks, Then Stalls
A contested proposal to cap OP_RETURN payloads and shrink transaction outputs signaled activation support from barely 1% of miners before the attempt fizzled.
BY DEREK CHU5 MIN READ
The contested BIP-110 signaling attempt mined two blocks before support stalled.
What BIP-110 tried to change
BIP-110, styled as a Reduced Data Temporary Softfork, proposed limiting new transaction outputs to 34 bytes and capping OP_RETURN payloads at 83 bytes — a direct response to concerns about non-financial data bloating the blockchain. Activation required 55% of mined blocks to signal support within its August lock-in window.
Why it stalled almost immediately
Network data showed signaling support hovering around 0.92% of blocks — nowhere near the 55% threshold. Two blocks were mined under the proposal's rules before miner participation collapsed, illustrating how difficult it is to push protocol changes through without broad, coordinated miner and node-operator consensus, even when the underlying concern (blockchain bloat) is widely shared.
WHY IT MATTERS
Bitcoin's governance has no central authority — changes require rough consensus across miners, node operators, and businesses. BIP-110's stall is a live example of that process working as designed: contested changes don't activate just because a vocal group wants them to.
What to watch next
1.Whether a revised, less contentious version of the proposal resurfaces.
2.Continued debate over OP_RETURN data usage and its effect on node storage costs.
3.Parallel discussion around BIP-361 and long-term quantum-resistance signature upgrades.
Frequently asked questions
What is a soft fork?
A backward-compatible protocol change that tightens Bitcoin's existing rules without splitting the network, as long as enough of the network adopts it.
Why did BIP-110 fail to activate?
Miner signaling support stayed near 1%, far short of the 55% threshold the proposal required for lock-in, so the activation window closed without adoption.
Does this affect regular bitcoin users?
Not directly and not yet — this was a signaling-stage proposal that never came close to activating. Regular transactions were unaffected throughout.
SOURCES & DATA
Education, not financial advice. See our editorial process and corrections policy.
Derek Chu
Bitcoin Almanack's editorial byline for on-chain data, holder behavior, exchange flows, network activity, and technical market structure.
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Sources are linked inline. Read our editorial information, AI disclosure and corrections policy, or report an error.