Deep Dive into BIP 110 and the Cost of Bitcoin Block Space
Exploring the temporary soft fork proposal BIP 110, aimed at addressing data storage costs on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
- BIP 110 proposes a one-year soft fork to limit arbitrary data in Bitcoin transactions.
- Supporters argue users pay once while node operators bear perpetual storage costs.
- Adam Back opposes the move, citing the risk of network splits and contentious rules.
- Activation requires a 55 percent signaling threshold among miners.
BIP 110 starts with a recognizable problem for Bitcoin users: a miner collects a one-time fee for including images or arbitrary data payloads, while thousands of node operators absorb the long-term cost of validating and storing them. Proponents view this mismatch as an unwarranted subsidy for data storage that threatens Bitcoin's core function as money.
Their proposed answer is a temporary soft fork lasting about one year, which would invalidate several currently valid transaction structures. The rules would cap OP_RETURN outputs at 83 bytes, limit data pushes and witness items to 256 bytes, restrict large output scripts and Taproot control blocks, and disable specific Taproot upgrade paths capable of carrying data.
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Stock photo for illustration only, not from the actual event
Adam Back agrees with the underlying premise that Bitcoin is meant for money and that spam has no place in its timechain. He previously designed Hashcash to impose costs on spam. However, his objection lies in the remedy, arguing that a minor nuisance fitting within existing block limits does not justify a contentious consensus change, especially one that risks minority chain splits and interferes with legitimate scripts.
This debate highlights a fundamental tension in blockchain architecture between local node policy and global consensus rules. While policies filter unconfirmed relay transactions, consensus defines valid network blocks. Elevating data filters to consensus rules via BIP 110 introduces significant precedent risks, illustrating the difficult trade-offs between protocol purity and consensus stability.
The immediate backdrop involves Bitcoin Core 30.0, released in October 2025, which raised the default -datacarriersize setting to 100,000 bytes and permitted multiple data outputs per transaction. Because node operators can adjust policies independently, BIP 110 crosses the boundary from local policy into formal consensus restrictions, outlining seven temporary rules for a one-year activation period.
"Bitcoin is about money and spam has no place in its timechain."
Adam Back
Deployment requires early lock-in via 1,109 out of 2,016 blocks, or 55 percent signaling with version bit 4. If unmet, BIP 110 nodes enter mandatory signaling at block 961,632, locking in by block 963,648. Public monitor data as of July 30, 2026, showed only 14 signaling blocks out of 655, representing just 2.14 percent against the required threshold.
Source: Dev.to
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