David Bailey, founder of Nakamoto, said yesterday that the BIP-110 proposal would no longer go ahead, just weeks before it was set to go into effect.
He made this announcement On XHe described the failed soft fork as “incredibly bullish for Bitcoin” and described the campaign that led to its cancellation as a “hostile takeover attempt.”
What is BIP-110?
BIP-110, also known as Interim Softfork for Reduced Data (BIP-444), was introduced in December 2025 by developer Dathon Ohm. The proposal was submitted to Reduce unnecessary data They are added to Bitcoin transactions, which some say distorts the way the network is used and could threaten Bitcoin’s role as a form of money.
To address these concerns, BIP-110 proposed strict new limits on transaction data. For example, new output will be limited to 34 bytes, certain data types will be limited to 83 bytes, and other technical restrictions will be implemented. The new rules are designed to last for only one year, without affecting the old coins.
Why was it cancelled?
Although it was discussed for several months, the proposal did not receive sufficient support. By February, less than 10% of Bitcoin nodes were in favor, and none of the 20 largest mining pools had joined.
Bailey, Nakamoto’s founder, insisted that this was not due to apathy but rather a strong rejection of the basic ideas of BIP-110. He described the discussion as: “Information war” Some developers were accused of trying to hijack the network.
Other experts also shared their concerns. BitMEX Research Bailey warned that the changes could break wallets, break popular instruments, and even cause people to lose money.
Others pointed out that data capping may not stop spam or malicious transactions, and that it could split the Bitcoin network into competing versions, creating competing coins like Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV.
A divided society
The controversy over data in Bitcoin is not new. Some believe that having too much data congests the network and makes it difficult for individuals to run Bitcoin nodes (which are essential for security and decentralization).
Others, such as Martin Habovistiakthat even with the new limits, it is still possible to store large files on the blockchain, after he uploaded a 66KB image to the blockchain as proof.
Controversy grew last year when a software update in October removed long-standing data caps, prompting some users to switch to an alternative called Bitcoin Knots. As of February, nodes accounted for nearly a quarter of all Bitcoin nodes.
What now?
Although the risk of network splitting or broken wallets is now low, the controversy surrounding BIP-110 continues. Some worry that Bitcoin may face more pressure from regulators or see its transaction fees rise due to data-heavy features like “ordinals” and “runes,” which now make up more than 67% of network transactions.
There is also the possibility that a small group of node operators and miners could try to activate BIP-110 themselves, creating two parallel versions of Bitcoin: one with stricter databases and one without.
However, for now, the Bitcoin community is breathing a sigh of relief as the threat of a devastating fork has faded, at least until the next proposal comes along.
