BIP-110 Backers Restart Minority Fork, Cap Blocks at 300 KB

Operators running nodes that implement BIP-110 have revived a minority Bitcoin fork and set its maximum block size to 300 KB, creating a separate chain that enforces the smaller limit.

The modified clients now reject any block larger than 300 KB. Blocks mined under the main network rules that exceed that size are not accepted by the fork’s nodes because the fork enforces a different consensus parameter.

Node operators and miners running the modified software caused the split. Wallets and services that follow the fork will record different transaction confirmations and balances than those that follow the main Bitcoin chain.

The fork remains a minority chain with a smaller share of mining power and fewer validating nodes than the main network. The 300 KB cap reduces the number of transactions miners can include in each block on that chain, lowering transaction throughput compared with chains that permit larger blocks.

Lower throughput can increase competition for available block space and affect fee levels and confirmation times for users who transact on the fork.

Creating the fork required deploying a modified client with the 300 KB limit and coordinating network parameters so nodes identify and follow the same chain. Miners who broadcast blocks larger than 300 KB will have those blocks rejected by the fork’s nodes.

BIP-110 is a proposal that changes consensus parameters related to block creation and validation. The debate over block-size limits has persisted in the Bitcoin community, with different participants advocating larger or smaller blocks to address capacity, bandwidth and storage concerns.

If most mining power and services continue to follow the main Bitcoin chain, the 300 KB fork will remain a minority network.