Bitcoin Fork BIP-110 Spells Danger for Holders Who Sell Coins
A new fork of Bitcoin, dubbed BIP-110, is set to occur in the coming days, posing a significant security risk for holders who plan to sell their coins from the fork.
According to Kevin Loaec, a Bitcoin developer, large holders may be targeted first, and doing nothing will be a safer option as coins that never move cannot be replayed.
The BIP-110 proposal aims to keep non-payment data out of Bitcoin transactions for a year, but it has an unintended consequence. It allows computers running BIP-110 software to reject blocks without the mark, which almost every block being mined currently lacks.
This could lead to a split in the Bitcoin network, with two competing versions of the transaction history emerging if some miners continue building a BIP-110-compatible branch while others keep mining Bitcoin as usual. The fate of the minority branch hangs in the balance, and it may stall if nobody extends it.