Opposition to Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110
Adam Back, a prominent figure in the cypherpunk community and the CEO of Blockstream, has voiced strong opposition to Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP-110). He characterizes it as a significant risk to the Bitcoin network’s stability and integrity as a reliable store of value.
Concerns Over BIP-110
BIP-110 seeks to address the issue of saturated blockchain space caused by unnecessary data, including images and videos uploaded through applications like Ordinals and Runes, by proposing a temporary soft fork lasting one year.
In a recent post on social media platform X, Back highlighted a troubling aspect of this proposal: its backers appear willing to compromise ordinary users’ access to their funds in an attempt to penalize spammers. Back raised concerns over potential consequences, including:
- The freezing of funds related to existing transaction outputs, which would mean users could lose access to their assets.
- The risk of a chain split arising from the proposal’s suggestion of activation with only 50% of the hash rate, in stark contrast to the conventional requirement of 95%.
Such a split could result in Bitcoin dividing into two rival chains.
Reputational Harm and Community Support
Back also emphasized the reputational harm stemming from BIP-110, suggesting that the approach resembles a ‘lynch mob’ mentality and undermines Bitcoin’s foundational principle of neutrality. He contends that spam, while annoying, does not constitute a security threat to the network, and that the measures introduced by BIP-110 would inflict more damage than the spam itself.
Notably, there is a noticeable lack of support for BIP-110 among the broader Bitcoin community, with current backing estimated at a mere 2.4% to 4.5%, primarily from nodes using the Bitcoin Knots client. Major mining pools have so far remained uninterested in endorsing this proposal.
In Back’s assessment, BIP-110 is “dead on arrival,” and he expressed alarm at the willingness of certain community members to entertain such risky and reckless strategies.
