Adam Back Rejects BIP-110 Fork Fears as Bitcoin Miner Support Remains Low

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP-110) is approaching a crucial deadline, but Blockstream CEO Adam Back says concerns about a forced Bitcoin chain split are overstated. The proposal, which requires majority miner signaling to lock in by early August 2026, currently has limited backing from major mining pools, making its activation uncertain.

Back dismissed claims that Bitcoin’s main network would face immediate risks if BIP-110 fails to gain enough support. According to him, the signaling process is designed to expire naturally if miners do not broadly approve the proposal, meaning there is no automatic threat to Bitcoin’s blockchain.

The debate intensified after Bitcoin infrastructure company Start9 promoted its “Flip the Bit” campaign, describing the activation effort as a low-risk way to gauge miner sentiment. The company argued that enabling the signal would cost miners only about 0.1% of annual revenue, while refusing to participate could increase the risk of a contentious chain split, disrupt Lightning Network (LN) participants, and drive away users who generate transaction fees.

BIP-110 is primarily aimed at limiting Ordinals, which embed images, text, and other data directly into Bitcoin transactions. Critics argue that these inscriptions consume valuable block space and contribute to blockchain congestion. Back, however, rejected Start9’s assessment, insisting that the proposal cannot force a network split without widespread industry support.

He also argued that Bitcoin’s technical decision-making should follow an Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF)-style consensus process, where only legitimate technical objections determine the outcome. In his view, no governance process should accommodate attempts to manipulate or sabotage technical consensus.

The dispute follows Bitcoin Core’s earlier decision to remove default limits on OP_RETURN, a transaction field previously restricted to discourage large data uploads. MicroStrategy co-founder Michael Saylor has also voiced concerns, warning that changes affecting transaction policies could undermine Bitcoin’s neutrality.

Despite the ongoing debate, BIP-110 signaling remains minimal, with major mining pools largely staying on the sidelines. Exchanges, node operators, and the broader Bitcoin community are closely monitoring the early August signaling window, which is expected to determine whether the proposal quietly expires or evolves into a broader dispute over Bitcoin’s future direction.