Guida Revives Bitcoin's Nuclear Option: PoW Switch if Miners Refuse BIP-110
Bitcoin developer Chris Guida has been working on code that could change the mining algorithm on a breakaway chain if miners refuse to support a proposed soft fork, BIP-110. The proposal aims to limit non-financial data in transactions and restrict certain contiguous data, with supporters saying it will return Bitcoin's focus to financial activity and reduce legal or operational risks for node operators.
The code is not yet scheduled for activation, but Guida has described it as a last-resort contingency rather than an imminent fork. The proposed soft fork requires 55% miner signaling, or 1,109 of 2,016 blocks, for an early lock-in. If that threshold is not reached, a mandatory signaling window begins at block 961,632, projected to happen this weekend on or around Aug. 8 or 9.
Supporters see the mechanism as leverage against miners, while critics say it could destroy mining investment and create a minority cryptocurrency with weak infrastructure support. Some operators are moving to limit fork exposure by closing Lightning Network channels before the mandatory signaling window. Start9 has warned that pre-signed transactions on these channels may be difficult to recover or migrate because they were built around a shared chain history.
Guida's code allows a future hard fork to switch algorithms after a configurable time, with options including SHA-256, SHA-256d, RIPEMD-160 and HASH160. Any actual launch would require developers and users to agree on an algorithm, activation time, software release and coordination plan.