Bitcoin Chain Split After BIP-110 Nodes Fall Behind
A contentious Bitcoin (BTC) proposal called BIP-110 has led to a chain split in the network, leaving behind nodes that enforce the contested rules by 18 blocks.
The divergence began at block height 961,632 when AntPool mined a non-signaling block without incorporating the required version bit 4 signal. Most of the network accepted it without issue, but BIP-110 nodes rejected it and followed a rival block produced through the Ocean pool by Roughnecks.
The minority chain managed to produce two blocks before stalling, while the main chain continued its normal pace, reaching height 961,651 by Saturday evening. The BIP-110 camp had sought a one-year cap on transaction data fields carrying Ordinals inscriptions and Runes tokens, but miner support never cleared 3%, far short of the 55% threshold set.
Michael Saylor argued hours before the deadline that the plan had failed to win broad miner support and would fork into irrelevance. Luke Dashjr, Ocean's chief technology officer, urged node operators to upgrade at once, warning that older software left them exposed to double-spending.