Bitcoin BIP-110 activation stalls with 3% miner support

Bitcoin’s BIP-110 upgrade has entered mandatory signaling, but miners are showing little support—with signaling below 3%—raising questions about whether the network can enforce the change without disruption.

BIP-110 is part of a broader effort to activate the “OP_CTV” (CheckTemplateVerify) soft-fork proposal, which aims to improve Bitcoin’s transaction efficiency and scalability. The upgrade would allow for more predictable and structured transaction flows, reducing the risk of congestion and high fees. However, the activation method requires miners to signal readiness. Normally, soft forks use a threshold (like 90-95% of blocks) to trigger activation. BIP-110 takes a stricter approach: if miners don’t signal strongly enough, the deployment mechanism itself activates, forcing nodes to enforce the rules. This is now happening, but with miners largely silent.

Only a handful of blocks are signaling support, well below the expected threshold. Bitcoin Core developers and observers warn that weak miner backing could lead to chain splits or reorgs if nodes enforce the new rules while miners ignore them. Some in the community have floated a potential hard-fork fallback, though that would face major resistance due to Bitcoin’s aversion to contentious splits. The lack of miner coordination contrasts with past soft-forks like Taproot, which activated smoothly with over 90% miner support.

If enforcement begins with such low miner participation, the network could face instability—orphaned blocks, rejected transactions, or prolonged disputes. Developers may need to extend the signaling window or adjust the deployment logic. What matters most is whether Bitcoin’s economic majority—the users and businesses running full nodes—accept the change regardless of miner support. A clean activation would validate the new enforcement model, while a messy one could set back future upgrades. Either way, this moment tests Bitcoin’s ability to change without breaking.