A breakaway bitcoin chain triggered by the controversial BIP-110 proposal has ground to a halt, producing only two blocks since splitting from the main network on Saturday. Bitcoin has since mined more than 300 blocks in the same period.

The fork now sits 326 blocks behind the main chain, stuck at block 961,633. A live monitor tracking the chain estimates its next difficulty adjustment — the mechanism that would make mining easier and potentially restart progress — is more than 6.3 years away.

How the Split Happened

BIP-110 proposed a one-year moratorium on storing non-payment data — such as images, text, and other files — in Bitcoin transactions. Adoption required 55% of blocks over a two-week window to signal support. The proposal peaked at roughly 2.6% of blocks.

Rather than accept defeat, the proposal contained a forced activation mechanism. At block 961,632, computers running BIP-110 software began rejecting every block that did not carry the activation signal. Since nearly no blocks carried it, those nodes diverged onto a separate chain composed only of signaling blocks.

Two blocks were produced on the forked chain. Then mining stopped entirely.

Why It Cannot Recover

The forked chain inherited Bitcoin's mining difficulty at the time of the split. Mining a block costs the same computational effort as on the main chain, but the forked coin carries no market value, no exchange listings, and no buyers — giving miners zero economic incentive to continue.

Bitcoin's difficulty recalculates every 2,016 blocks, which at normal speed takes approximately two weeks. The forked chain cannot lower its difficulty until it reaches that same 2,016-block milestone. At its current pace, that milestone has receded to an estimated 6.3 years and continues moving further out with every idle hour.

Market Reaction

"The BIP-110 experiment has effectively collapsed after producing only two blocks and falling behind the main chain," said Nick Ruck, director of LVRG Research. "This underscores that Bitcoin's security and progress remain firmly tied to the overwhelming majority of hashpower."

Not everyone considers the outcome settled. Himanshu Sahay, co-founder of Arch, cautioned that it is "still too early to draw firm conclusions from the initial block production," noting that Bitcoin governance changes depend on coordination across miners, developers, and the wider ecosystem.

Bitcoin's main network continues to operate normally, with its next difficulty adjustment expected in approximately 12 days.