New Bitcoin Network Fork Hits Freezing Point: 6.3-Year Mathematical Deadlock
The BIP-110 fork, which emerged from data storage debates on the Bitcoin network, has entered a 6.3-year mathematical deadlock due to the protocol’s own difficulty adjustment mechanism.
The BIP-110 fork that took place on the Bitcoin network over the weekend has reached a virtual freezing point due to insufficient miner support. Trailing 326 blocks behind the main chain, this new formation seems likely to reach the number of blocks required to lower mining difficulty in no less than 6 years. Currently, while the mainnet has reached block 961,959, the forked chain has stalled at 961,633, having produced only two blocks.
The BIP-110 proposal aimed to prevent the storage of non-payment data, such as images and text, in Bitcoin (BTC) transactions for one year. However, the 55% miner support required for this rule change to take effect remained at just 2.6% even at its peak. Despite this, with the software triggering a pre-determined secondary path, a split occurred at block 961,632. Computers running the BIP-110 software attempted to forge their own path by rejecting blocks produced by the vast majority of miners, but this move created a significant gap.
Mathematical Deadlock and Economic Barrier in the Bitcoin Fork
In the current scenario, while the main chain progresses rapidly, time has virtually stood still for the fork. Much like those stranded on the bottom steps of a ladder, this new chain has been deprived of the main network’s hash power. Since mining difficulty is updated every 2,016 blocks, it will take approximately 6.3 years at the current speed for this new chain to perform a “difficulty adjustment” that would make mining easier.
There is also a major economic impasse; because the asset produced by this new chain has no market value, exchange listing, or buyer. Miners are unwilling to bear the same high costs as on the Bitcoin (BTC) mainnet to produce an asset with no financial value. Arch co-founder Himanshu Sahay takes a cautious approach to the situation, stating that coordination between miners and developers may take time and that it is too early to declare a definitive failure.