BIP-110 Defeat Sparks Breakaway Coin Plans

A proposed rule change to Bitcoin's protocol, known as BIP-110, has been defeated in its bid to become active on the network. Despite a low bar for activation being set at 55%, with support peaking at just 2.53%, the proposal was rejected by miners.

The supporters of the failed rule change have responded by calling it an 'attack' and are now planning to abandon Bitcoin's mining algorithm altogether in favor of creating a new proof-of-work change that would launch a separate coin.

According to Luke Dashjr, a key figure behind the movement, this new breakaway coin could potentially emerge as soon as September 1. The creation of such a rival cryptocurrency would render all existing Bitcoin mining machines useless overnight and create a competing chain with its own value proposition.

This development has significant implications for the cryptocurrency market, particularly in light of history's precedent. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which broke away from Bitcoin in 2017, now trades near $215, or about 0.3% of Bitcoin's price, per BeInCrypto data.