Key facts
- Bitcoin reached block 961,632, initiating the mandatory signaling period for BIP-110.
- BIP-110 proposes temporary restrictions on non-monetary data embedded on the Bitcoin network.
- Miner support for BIP-110 is below 3%, far short of the 55% activation threshold.
- Proponents are pursuing BIP-110 as a user-activated soft fork (UASF).
- The signaling window will end around block 965,664, approximately four weeks from activation.
Bitcoin reached block 961,632 on Saturday, marking the start of the mandatory signaling period for Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP-110). The proposal, aimed at temporarily limiting non-financial data on the network, has garnered minimal miner support, with only 2.53% of blocks signaling for it, falling significantly short of the 55% threshold required for activation. Despite low miner backing, proponents are pushing BIP-110 as a user-activated soft fork (UASF), a strategy that relies on node operators to enforce the change by rejecting blocks from miners not signaling support, similar to the 2017 SegWit activation. This approach could lead to a contentious split, creating a minority chain enforced by BIP-110 nodes. Critics, including Michael Saylor and Adam Back, argue that the proposal could divide Bitcoin and reject valid transactions. A fallback proof-of-work change has also been discussed as a contingency. The signaling window is set to conclude around block 965,664, approximately four weeks from activation.