A public dispute between former Ripple CTO David Schwartz and a supporter of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 (BIP-110) has reopened debate over a proposed Bitcoin hard fork. The proposal would replace SHA-256d, Bitcoin’s current proof-of-work algorithm, with BLAKE2b. That change would make existing ASICs (specialized mining computers) obsolete and could disrupt the network’s hash rate and security, although supporters argue it could allow GPU and CPU miners to compete again. BIP-110 has not been implemented and has been dormant for years, but the issue has resurfaced amid broader arguments about Bitcoin’s scalability, energy consumption, decentralization and governance. The dispute also illustrates the risks of protocol changes that lack broad support, including potential network splits such as Bitcoin Cash’s 2017 fork and Ethereum Classic’s 2016 split.