Catenaa, Wednesday, August 12, 2026- Bitcoin has split into competing blockchain branches after supporters of the controversial BIP-110 proposal began rejecting blocks that failed to support new restrictions on non-financial data, exposing a deeper dispute over who controls Bitcoin’s block space.
The split began Saturday at block 961,632 after nodes enforcing BIP-110 rejected a block mined by AntPool because it did not signal support for the proposal.
Most of the Bitcoin network accepted AntPool’s block and continued building the main chain. BIP-110 nodes instead followed an alternative block attributed to Roughnecks, mining through Ocean.
The result was a minority blockchain that quickly fell behind Bitcoin’s main network.
By 6 p.m. ET Saturday, the main chain had reached block 961,640 while the BIP-110 branch stood at 961,633.
Bitcoin traded around $65,000 following the split, with no immediate market disruption reported.
The imbalance reflects the central problem confronting BIP-110: miners have shown little appetite for adopting it.
BIP-110 sought support from 55% of blocks during its signaling period. Only 51 of the previous 2,016 blocks supported the proposal, equivalent to about 2.53%.
The proposal would temporarily restrict several methods used to store non-financial information on Bitcoin.
Its rules include limits on OP_RETURN data and certain Taproot functions. Supporters want to curb blockchain activity associated with Ordinals inscriptions and other arbitrary data.
The restrictions are designed to remain active for roughly one year if the proposal successfully activates.
The fork turns a long-running technical argument into an active test of Bitcoin’s consensus model.
BIP-110 supporters, including Ocean Chief Technology Officer Luke Dashjr, argue that permanent non-financial data consumes scarce block space, increases burdens on node operators and moves Bitcoin away from its monetary purpose.
Opponents argue the network should remain neutral. Under that view, miners should be free to process any valid transaction when users pay the required fees.
Strategy Executive Chairman Michael Saylor opposed BIP-110 in July, arguing that Bitcoin’s consensus rules should respond to genuine security threats rather than attempts to determine acceptable transaction purposes.
The divide intensified after Bitcoin Core’s 2025 v30 update changed its default OP_RETURN policy, effectively removing the software’s longstanding 83-byte relay limit.
For BIP-110, survival now depends on attracting enough mining power to keep its chain moving.
Without support from miners, exchanges, wallets and other infrastructure providers, the minority branch may remain technically alive but economically isolated.
That makes the fork more than a dispute over blockchain data. It is a live demonstration of Bitcoin’s underlying governance principle: changing the network’s rules requires economic consensus, not simply code.
