Saylor Tells BIP-110 Backers to Stand Down Amid Chain-Split Risk

Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, has urged backers of BIP-110 to 'stand down' in a recent post on X. The proposal aims to limit unrelated data attached to Bitcoin transactions through software changes.

Saylor argues that the current signaling rate for BIP-110 is too low to meet the 55% miner threshold required for the change to lock in. As of block 961,022, only 38 blocks have signaled out of roughly 1,400 in the current period, a rate of about 2.7%. Major mining pools, including Foundry and AntPool, have not signaled at all.

The proposal's supporters claim that limiting unrelated data would ease the load on node operators and reduce fees driven up by data-heavy transactions. However, Saylor and other critics argue that this would set a precedent for filtering transactions based on perceived purpose, potentially threatening privacy tools and new financial contracts built on the network.

If BIP-110 moves forward, nodes enforcing the rules could reject blocks without signaling support, potentially leading to a chain split. The mandatory signaling window is expected to open around block 961,632, likely between Aug. 7 and Aug. 9. Saylor's post makes it clear that unless major miners switch their stance, Bitcoin will continue to operate normally while BIP-110 stalls or forks into irrelevance.