Supporters of the so-called BIP-110 fork have restarted their minority chain, reviving a network that stalled on August 8, 2026. According to project communications and community-run explorers, the chain has now produced more than 800 blocks. The reboot implements two headline changes: a switch in proof-of-work (PoW) from Bitcoin’s SHA-256d to Blake2b and a reduction of the maximum block size to 300 KB.
Background on the BIP-110 Fork
BIP-110 refers to a community-driven initiative invoking Bitcoin Improvement Proposal conventions to justify an alternative set of protocol rules. The effort represents a minority fork of Bitcoin, meaning it diverges from the Bitcoin network’s consensus and operates as a separate blockchain with incompatible validation rules.
The fork initially launched in early August before stalling, then resumed block production over the weekend. Supporters position the effort as an experiment in leaner on-chain throughput and resource requirements, arguing that smaller blocks can improve network propagation and widen the base of users able to run full nodes.
Key Protocol Changes
- Proof-of-Work switch to Blake2b: The fork replaces Bitcoin’s SHA-256d PoW with Blake2b. This makes the chain incompatible with existing Bitcoin mining hardware and hashpower. Blake2b is a widely used cryptographic hash function and underpins the mining algorithms of several other networks.
- Block size cap reduced to 300 KB: The maximum block size is set at 300 kilobytes, a significant cut from Bitcoin’s historical 1 MB base block size (and well below the effective capacity enabled by SegWit and efficiency improvements on Bitcoin). The smaller cap reflects a long-running viewpoint among some developers who argue that tighter block limits can bolster decentralization by lowering bandwidth and storage demands.
Community discussions around the fork have linked the reduced block size to ideas championed by Bitcoin developer Luke Dashjr, who has publicly advocated for smaller blocks in the past. The fork’s backers frame the change as an attempt to prioritize validation accessibility and network resilience. Critics, by contrast, typically warn that sharply reduced capacity can push more activity off-chain or to competing networks.
Early Network Activity and Considerations
Project channels report that the revived chain has mined more than 800 blocks since the restart. Because the chain now uses Blake2b, miners require compatible software and hardware distinct from Bitcoin’s SHA-256 ecosystem, which may affect near-term hash distribution and security assumptions while the network bootstraps.
As a minority fork, the chain operates entirely separately from Bitcoin. Wallets, nodes, and miners must run the fork’s software to interact with it, and users should treat it as a distinct asset with different consensus rules. Details on exchange support, wallet compatibility, replay protection, and long-term governance have not been broadly disclosed by the organizers as of publication.
Why It Matters
The BIP-110 fork underscores ongoing debates about Bitcoin’s design priorities, including throughput, decentralization, and the trade-offs inherent in base-layer scaling. By changing PoW and substantially constraining block size, the fork presents a live experiment in a more restrictive on-chain model with a separate mining market. Its progress and network security will likely depend on community participation, tooling, and miner engagement in the weeks ahead.