Ordinals developers say Bitcoin inscriptions can survive proposed BIP-110 rule

BIP-110, a proposed Bitcoin soft fork aimed at restricting transaction data, has been abandoned just weeks before it was due to go live, according to David Bailey, founder of Nakamoto. Bailey described the failed effort as “incredibly bullish for Bitcoin” and called the campaign behind it a “hostile takeover attempt,” arguing the proposal was actively rejected rather than simply ignored. Introduced in December 2025 by developer Dathon Ohm and also described as the Reduced Data Temporary Softfork, or BIP-444, the measure sought to curb data-heavy uses of Bitcoin by imposing tighter limits on new transaction outputs and certain data fields for one year while leaving older coins unaffected. The proposal had already struggled to gain traction. By February, less than 10% of Bitcoin nodes supported it and none of the top 20 mining pools had joined, adding to earlier signs of weak miner signaling. The plan had drawn concern from infrastructure and market participants because critics said it could break wallets, disrupt widely used tools and potentially split Bitcoin into rival chains. BitMEX Research warned Bailey of fund-loss risks, while others argued the restrictions would do little to stop spam because large files could still be stored on-chain using alternative methods. Martin Habovštiak had demonstrated that point by uploading a 66-kilobyte image to the blockchain. The fight reflects a broader divide over whether Bitcoin should prioritize monetary use over open-ended data storage. Tensions intensified after an October software update removed longstanding data limits, helping drive some users to Bitcoin Knots, which accounted for nearly a quarter of nodes as of February. The debate also remains tied to ordinals and runes, which the report said now represent more than 67% of network transactions, raising ongoing concerns over fees, regulation and the risk that a minority of participants could still try to launch a stricter parallel version of Bitcoin.