Bitcoin miners have not yet reached an agreement to limit the size of additional data within the network. The BIP-110 proposal, or the Reduced Data Temporary Softfork, has only garnered 2.53% signaling support out of the voluntary 55% threshold required. At block 960,723, only 28 out of 1,108 blocks were recorded signaling approval. This figure ensures that the 55% support target is already impossible to achieve based on calculations before the consensus search period ends.
Michael Saylor directly highlighted this reality. He stated that the 55% target is no longer reachable and emphasized that the current situation is by no means a reflection of miner consensus. According to Saylor, all signaling support recorded so far has been driven purely by miners using the DATUM system and sharing rewards through the OCEAN mining pool.
Restricting Data vs Transaction Freedom
BIP-110 has triggered debates in the community as it proposes seven temporary consensus restrictions at the protocol level. The new rules are specifically designed to limit the size of new script outputs to a maximum of 34 bytes, cap OP_RETURN capacity at 83 bytes, and restrict push data size to 256 bytes. The proposal also includes specific limitations targeting several operational features on Taproot.
Proponents believe this restrictive measure is essential to curb the trend of storing arbitrary data on the blockchain. They aim to restore the utility of the Bitcoin network to focus fully on pure monetary activities. Conversely, opponents argue otherwise. Saylor and Adam Back of Blockstream criticized this approach, with the core argument that consensus rules should not dictate which transactions are entitled to block space allocation.
Threat of a Split Chain
The real tension will be felt once the voluntary signaling period expires at block 961,631. Once that deadline passes, specifically from block 961,632 to 963,647, client software running BIP-110 will reject all new blocks that do not signal bit 4.
The stance of hashpower providers will now determine the fate of the network. Foundry USA Pool, one of the major mining infrastructure providers, is still conducting a poll of its customer base to determine the pool’s future stance. The voting deadline closes near the block 961,632 boundary. If the majority of hashpower chooses to ignore these new rules and continues mining blocks without the signal, Bitcoin could face a real issue: the network splitting into two different chains.
For crypto market participants, the threat of a chain split is not just a debate over lines of code. As warned by Saylor and Back, pushing a protocol upgrade without broad miner agreement will only split the Bitcoin network, bringing risks of technical confusion that threaten transaction certainty.
As reported by crypto.news.
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Disclaimer: This article is for informational and educational purposes only, not financial advice. Cryptocurrency assets are highly volatile and carry significant risk. Always do your own research (DYOR) and never invest more than you can afford to lose.