BIP-110 Bitcoin Chain Mines Two Blocks, Then Stalls

In brief: The minority Bitcoin chain created by BIP-110 supporters produced two blocks in roughly eight hours and then stalled. It inherited Bitcoin’s mining difficulty but has only a small share of its computing power. The split also creates a transaction risk because both chains accept identical signed transactions, potentially exposing sellers’ BTC if a fork-coin payment is rebroadcast on Bitcoin. coindesk.com

What happened?

BIP-110 supporters created a minority chain on Saturday when computers running the proposal’s software began rejecting any block that did not signal support. AntPool mined the first non-signaling block, which the broader Bitcoin network accepted but BIP-110 nodes rejected. A miner using Ocean produced the alternative block followed by the breakaway chain. AntPool and Ocean are mining pools in which operators combine computing resources and share mining rewards. coindesk.com

The proposal seeks to stop people from storing images, text and other non-financial data inside Bitcoin transactions for one year. Supporters argue that this material can clog the network and raise costs for people using Bitcoin to send money. Opponents say that paying a transaction fee gives a user the right to use the purchased block space and that miners and node operators should not determine which transactions are legitimate. coindesk.com

The stall stems from Bitcoin’s difficulty rules. Mining difficulty is recalculated every 2,016 blocks to target an average interval of roughly ten minutes. The BIP-110 chain inherited Bitcoin’s existing difficulty while retaining only a tiny share of the mining machines, leaving its blocks hours apart. It cannot lower that difficulty until it completes another 2,016-block cycle. The situation monitor estimated that milestone at about 350 days away at the reported pace, rather than describing the eventual difficulty level as necessarily manageable. coindesk.com

BIP-110 also lacked enough signaling support to activate without dividing the network. Only 2.53% of blocks signaled for it over the prior two weeks, well below the required 55%. The two-week period during which BIP-110 nodes require every block to signal support continues through block 963,647. The source reported that the minority chain would not approach that height at its recent pace. coindesk.com

Why does it matter to investors?

Reported fact: Both chains continue to accept identical transactions. A signed transaction intended to transfer fork coins can therefore also work on Bitcoin. The source says a buyer could potentially rebroadcast that transaction on Bitcoin and collect BTC from the same seller, creating the possibility of an attack rather than guaranteeing that one will occur. coindesk.com

Vault of Money analysis: Vault of Money analysis: The immediate concerns are operational rather than speculative forecasts about market value. Blocks arriving several hours apart make transactions on the minority chain slow to confirm. Minimal miner signaling leaves little computing power available to improve that pace, while the 2,016-block requirement delays any difficulty recalculation. Anyone handling fork coins should also account for the possibility that a transaction could be valid on both chains and expose the corresponding BTC.

What should investors watch next?

Watch the BIP-110 chain’s block height and the time between new blocks for evidence that production is resuming or remaining stalled. Miner signaling and any additional hashpower directed to the chain are concrete indicators of whether it can process blocks more regularly. coindesk.com

Two milestones are especially relevant: progress toward the 2,016 blocks required for a difficulty recalculation and the signaling window that runs through block 963,647. Investors should also monitor whether participants address the cross-chain transaction risk created by both networks accepting the same signed transactions. The source does not identify a confirmed remedy, so this remains a risk to track rather than assume resolved. coindesk.com

Key takeaways

• BIP-110’s minority chain produced two blocks in about eight hours before block production stalled.
• Its inherited mining difficulty cannot be recalculated until the chain completes 2,016 blocks, estimated at about 350 days at the reported pace.
• Signaling support was 2.53%, far short of the 55% required to activate BIP-110 without a split.
• Transactions valid on both chains create a possible rebroadcast attack that could expose a fork-coin seller’s BTC.

Sources

• coindesk.com: Controversial Bitcoin fork BIP-110 mines two blocks, then stops (August 9, 2026)