Bitcoin Fork BIP-110 Mines Two Blocks Before Stalling
A controversial Bitcoin fork mined two blocks then stopped, with blocks hours apart due to low hashpower.
A breakaway Bitcoin chain implementing BIP-110 successfully mined two blocks before activity ceased, according to reports. The fork inherited Bitcoin's original mining difficulty while commanding only a tiny share of total hashpower.
Because the network's difficulty remained at Bitcoin's level, block production was extremely slow, with new blocks arriving hours apart. The fork shares transaction history with Bitcoin up to the point of divergence, meaning both chains were accepting the same transactions during the brief period of activity.
BIP-110 was introduced as a technical proposal aimed at changing Bitcoin's block size or reward structure, though details of the specific change have been a point of contention among supporters and critics. The fork's rapid halt highlights the practical challenges of sustaining an alternative chain without sufficient mining power.
At present, no further blocks have been mined on the BIP-110 chain, and its status remains uncertain. Such short-lived forks are not uncommon in cryptocurrency, where low hashpower networks often fail to maintain regular block production.