BIP-110 Enforcement Branch Hits Roadblock with Worsening Block Gap

Bitcoin's BIP-110-enforcing branch has stalled after mining just two blocks, widening the separation from the non-enforcing chain to 88 blocks. This happened despite mandatory-signaling rules being in place since block 961,632. The enforcing branch was last seen at block 961,633, while the non-enforcing chain advanced to block 961,721.

The slow progress of the enforcing branch is attributed to a lack of sufficient miners actively producing signaling blocks during the mandatory phase. According to Ocean records, the first two enforcing-branch blocks were produced by a pseudonymous group using Ocean's DATUM mining protocol. Those blocks are the basis for the current head of the enforcing side.

The BIP-110 rules require enforcing nodes to reject blocks that do not signal via version bit 4. Standard Bitcoin nodes, on the other hand, continue to accept both signaling and non-signaling blocks. The result is that the enforcing branch can lag if insufficient miners actively produce signaling blocks during the mandatory phase.

The divergence began after BIP-110 entered mandatory signaling at block 961,632. During this period, only 2.53% of blocks in the preceding window signaled support. Mandatory signaling continues through block 963,647, but difficulty adjustment won't fully help until the enforcing side mines through the remainder of the 2,016-block adjustment period.