Saylor, Back oppose BIP-110 fork to block Ordinals

Michael Saylor and Adam Back criticized BIP-110, a proposal for a temporary protocol fork that would block Ordinals inscriptions and other non-monetary data on Bitcoin. The proposal was introduced in December 2025 by a pseudonymous developer known as Dathon Ohm and has support from developer Luke Dashjr.

Saylor posted on X that the proposal could cause harm to the network and wrote, “There are 110 things more dangerous to Bitcoin than spam.” Back characterized BIP-110 as a “quest to police other people,” arguing that placing limits on transaction content conflicts with Bitcoin’s permissionless, censorship-resistant design. Both men have said they are critical of Ordinals activity but oppose a protocol fork as a remedy.

BIP-110 would enact a one-year restriction on non-monetary transactions and inscriptions at the protocol level. Backers say the change is needed because Ordinals-driven data has increased blockspace use and could contribute to long-term blockchain growth. Supporters also contend the rule would not produce a lasting chain split and that fee-paying monetary transactions would remain valid over time.

Activation of BIP-110 requires 55% of Bitcoin-validating blocks to signal support within a defined block “period.” In the most recent period, number 475, covering blocks 955,584 through 957,599, roughly 1% of blocks signaled support, falling well short of the threshold.

Opponents say any protocol fork risks splitting the network or causing unintended validation failures. Saylor raised the prospect that the rule could invalidate otherwise ordinary transactions. Back framed the proposal as an attempt to enforce subjective standards on what users may include in transactions.

On-chain activity tied to Ordinals has declined since its peak. Daily inscriptions averaged under 10,000 over the past month, down from more than 400,000 at the peak in August 2023. Critics of the fork point to that decline when questioning the urgency of a protocol change.

Given recent signalling levels, BIP-110 did not meet the activation threshold in the latest period. The proposal remains under discussion among developers, node operators and other participants in the Bitcoin community.