The initiative to purge the Bitcoin blockchain of “data clutter” is struggling to find traction among network participants. As of late January 2026, the ambitious BIP-110 proposal, specifically designed to combat network spam, has seen minimal adoption from validators.
Current Status: The Hard Numbers
As of January 25, only 729 out of 24,482 nodes (~3%) on the Bitcoin blockchain have “signaled” support for the BIP-110 soft fork. Despite the vocal advocacy from the proposal’s authors, major industry players remain on the sidelines:
- Activation Threshold: The soft fork requires 55% validator support to be implemented.
- Mining Interest: To date, none of the top 20 largest mining pools have expressed interest in the update.
Technical Essence of BIP-110
Proposed in early December 2025 by the Bitcoin Knots team (led by developer Luke Dashjr), the initiative is framed as a temporary, one-year measure to optimize network load. It suggests a consensus-level restriction on the amount of arbitrary data that can be embedded into transactions.
The proposal introduces the following primary constraints:
| Parameter | Proposed Limit |
| Output data (excluding OP_RETURN) | Max 34 bytes |
| OP_RETURN limit | Max 83 bytes |
| “Inscriptions” (SegWit) | Max 256 bytes |
| SegWit Versions | Only v0 and Taproot allowed |
The authors claim that “all known [Bitcoin] use cases will remain fully functional,” though the move would effectively block the ability to store large files or NFTs (Ordinals) directly on the chain.
A Philosophical Schism: Finance vs. “Digital Junk”
Supporters of BIP-110 argue that Bitcoin must return to its “true mission”—serving as a decentralized financial system rather than a general-purpose data storage layer. They contend that the influx of arbitrary data places an undue burden on node operators, potentially leading to centralization as hardware requirements spike.
“It’s like one of those parasitic plants, like ivy, that completely covers a tree, eats it, and destroys its internal structure. The ivy itself eventually dies too. That’s what spam can do to Bitcoin,” stated Bitcoin advocate and researcher Matthew Krater.
Background of the Conflict
Tensions regarding transaction size limits escalated following the controversial Bitcoin Core v30 update in late 2025. That update significantly increased the OP_RETURN limit from 80 to 100,000 bytes, opening the floodgates for mass data embedding and causing a spike in network fees. BIP-110 is a direct attempt to “roll back” these changes and enforce a more rigid architecture.
Summary: The fate of BIP-110 remains highly uncertain. Without the backing of major mining pools, the initiative risks remaining a niche project for the Bitcoin Knots community rather than becoming a network-wide standard.
