BIP-110 Minority Fork Trails Main Bitcoin Chain by 18 Blocks
A minority Bitcoin fork that emerged after the main network hit block height 961,632 is struggling to keep up. The BIP-110-supported chain has dropped by 18 blocks compared to the main blockchain, a significant decline since it produced only 2 blocks. This discrepancy highlights the difficulties faced by the alternative chain, which operates at the same difficulty level as the main Bitcoin ecosystem but with significantly less hash power.
The mining difficulty of the network rose to almost 127.48T, contributing to the drop in the minority fork's block production pace. As fewer miners contribute their computational power to the BIP-110 chain, it becomes increasingly challenging for supporters to develop a proof-of-work branch that can compete with the main chain.
Matthew Kratter, a BIP-110 supporter, acknowledged that a significant change would be required for the minority fork to outcompete the main chain. Some have begun discussing an alternative approach involving a modification in the Bitcoin's proof-of-work algorithm.