Bitcoin's BIP110 Fork Slips 18 Blocks Behind the Main Chain

Bitcoin's network split at block height 961632 on Saturday, and the BIP110-aligned mining group Roughnecks has since added one more block to its minority chain. At 7:56 p.m. EDT, Roughnecks produced a BIP110 block at height 961633, while the dominant Bitcoin chain had already advanced to 961651. Roughnecks mined BIP110 blocks 961632 and 961633, but the gap widened as the main chain continued to extend. The split coincided with a difficulty adjustment at height 961632, pushing Bitcoin's mining difficulty up to 127.48 trillion, a level that leaves the minority chain facing extremely slow block times unless it attracts substantially more hashrate. Luke Dashjr, the creator of Bitcoin Knots and CTO of Ocean, issued a warning on X: "PSA: If you haven't upgraded to Bitcoin Knots 29.3.knots20260508 (or 29.4) yet, you are now vulnerable to doublespending attacks aided by [Foundry and Antpool]," adding in bold, "Upgrade ASAP to avoid accepting counterfeit bitcoins." Dathon Ohm, the anonymous architect behind BIP110, also posted that "The Bitcoin network is currently under attack from hostile miners." Roughnecks' first BIP110 block at 961632 was mined in a head-to-head race with Antpool, which won on the dominant chain, leaving Roughnecks' competing block on the BIP110 version. With difficulty not automatically dropping when hashrate departs, Roughnecks and allies are effectively trying to solve blocks at the same 127.48 trillion target with only a fraction of the computing power securing the main chain. Without a major influx of miners, the breakaway chain could remain stalled until it accumulates enough blocks to trigger its next difficulty retarget. The split also highlighted fractures within Ocean-linked hashrate. Simple Mining, an Iowa-based hosting firm that directs hashrate toward Ocean Mining, mined Bitcoin block 961634 on the dominant chain. Simple Mining uses Ocean's DATUM system, which allows miners and hosters to build their own block templates, including whether to set the BIP110 version bit. The result suggests Ocean-associated miners are not uniformly committing to the BIP110 minority fork. Roughnecks' "110th Mining Division" celebrated the two consecutive BIP110 blocks, comparing the effort to "wildcatting" in oil exploration, a high-risk bet on unproven ground. Dashjr reposted the message on X. BIP110 supporters reacted sharply as the main chain pulled away. One proponent, BTCbello, posted: "RIP Bitcoin. You just became only another captured speculative asset. Sorry Satoshi, we failed you." Matthew Kratter, a prominent BIP110 advocate, said it would take an "absolute miracle" for the BIP110 chain to overtake the legacy chain. Dashjr later wrote that "BIP110 is active on the Bitcoin network. Malicious pools and miners are attacking the network, scamming old nodes and light wallets. People using updated full nodes (ie, Knots 20260508) are unaffected." Some BIP110 backers also floated the idea of changing the minority chain's mining algorithm. Responding to Kratter's latest video, the X account Maitreya Lockwood wrote: "We have nothing to lose by starting new with a POW. So much potential and freedom in being able to see what just clearly happened and make the corrections needed to keep this alive. This is Independence Day for sound and decentralized money."