BIP-110 Supporters Dust Off PoW Fork Code as Miner Deadline Looms

Aug. 7, 2026 — Bitcoin developer Chris Guida has revived 2017-era proof-of-work fork code as a contingency plan, signaling that BIP-110 supporters may bypass miners if the proposed soft fork fails to gain traction before this weekend’s mandatory signaling window at block 961,632.

Immediate Details & Direct Quotes

Guida rebased Luke Dashjr’s 2017 proof-of-work change code onto a recent Bitcoin Knots codebase. The public branch updates the older concept for modern software, including changes to mining validation, consensus settings, block handling, chain parameters and functional tests.

On Aug. 4, Guida clarified the code’s purpose: “People seem to think that the intention is for this pow change to activate immediately. That’s not the case. This is just some code to have in our back pocket in case miners betray bitcoin, to activate at some point later.”

The contingency would swap Bitcoin’s SHA-256d mining algorithm, rendering current ASIC hardware ineffective on the breakaway chain. The code allows switching to SHA-256, RIPEMD-160 or HASH160, though no activation has been scheduled.

The proposal, formally called the Reduced Data Temporary Softfork, requires 55% miner signaling (1,109 of 2,016 blocks) for early lock-in. Without that threshold, mandatory signaling begins at block 961,632, projected for Aug. 8-9.

Market Context & Reaction

Signaling rates remain critically low. At the time of writing, chain tip 961425 at 8:15 a.m. EDT Friday, only 207 blocks remain before the mandate begins. Just 47 of 1,818 blocks have signaled BIP-110 support—a signaling rate of roughly 2.59%.

Support has come primarily from smaller mining operators including SoV, Roughnecks and Sympatheia. Major pools including MARA Pool, Antpool, F2Pool and ViaBTC have revealed little. Australian platforms Bitaroo and Hardblock are among the few exchanges to publicly outline contingency plans.

Lightning Network operators are moving preemptively. Start9 warned that channels opened before a split may be difficult to recover and advised users to consider cooperative channel closures before the mandatory signaling window. The company closed its own node channels as a precaution.

Ordinals proponents have signaled defiance. At block height 961278, MARA Pool mined a block containing only two transactions, one embedding a vintage-style Pepe the Frog image. “Really MARA? 3.85 MB space for this?” one user wrote.

Background & Historical Context

BIP-110 would restrict how much nonfinancial data can be embedded in bitcoin transactions for roughly one year. It would limit contiguous data, reduce permitted script sizes and restore an 83-byte consensus limit for OP_RETURN.

Supporters argue the restrictions would return Bitcoin’s base layer to financial activity and reduce legal or operational risks for node operators. The dispute revives arguments from Bitcoin’s 2017 block-size fight, when users promoted software enforcement as a check on miner power.

Dashjr has doubled down on the conflict, stating “Core is the scamcoin.” Guida maintains he expects miners to support smooth BIP-110 activation, despite the contingency code being publicly available.

The first block under a replacement algorithm would receive a mining target roughly 1 million times easier under default settings, helping a chain with little computing power produce blocks instead of freezing.

What This Means

The immediate test is whether bitcoin miners change signaling behavior during the mandatory window. If enforcing nodes remain on a viable chain, the hard-fork code may stay in the “back pocket” as intended.

A proof-of-work switch would strand today’s ASIC miners on the old chain, effectively creating a minority cryptocurrency. Critics warn it could destroy mining investment, fragment liquidity and result in weak infrastructure support.

Key milestones to watch: official Bitcoin Knots releases, miner support during the mandatory window, Lightning channel closures and exchange policies on replay protection. Any move to give the hard-fork code a specific algorithm or activation date would signal escalation.

Lock-in is expected no later than block 963,648, with activation targeted around block 965,664. At current signaling rates, the path forward remains highly uncertain. As with all crypto developments, this is not financial advice—conduct your own research.

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