BIP 110 & The Future of Soft Forks | SUPER TESTNET

— BIP 110 is a proposed soft fork to limit arbitrary data storage in Bitcoin transactions across seven identified fields (op returns, witness space, annex, op success, taproot leaves, segwit versions). The stated goal is to reduce "spam" in the form of inscriptions and large data blobs on-chain.

— Super Testnet agrees with the underlying goal of limiting data storage but objects to the current implementation: the seventh rule modification would invalidate transactions using the `OP_IF` function, affecting legitimate wallet users (such as those using Nunchuk's wallet policies) who have nothing to do with inscriptions.

— BIP 110 proposes a hybrid activation: miners signal via blocks; if 55% signal by August 2025, the soft fork activates via miner-activated rules. If that threshold is not reached, user-activated enforcement begins, with BIP 110 nodes rejecting all blocks that don't signal readiness.

— Mempool filters (relay policy) can reduce local spam but cannot prevent spam from being mined into blocks without majority compliance from both miners and nodes. Soft forks, by contrast, enforce rules consensus-wide.

— A contentious soft fork creates economic war and potential chain splits. Old nodes accept both branches; BIP 110 nodes reject non-compliant blocks. The longest chain becomes "real Bitcoin" only if nodes and exchanges agree; if not, two competing assets emerge.

— Super published a User-Rejected Soft Fork prototype (400 lines) that rejects blocks *with* BIP 110 signaling bits flipped to one, forcing guaranteed contention if both activated soft forks coexist. He called for professional developers to clean up the code; few responded, citing low current hash rate signaling (~0.01%) as insufficient motivation.

— If contentious soft fork activation occurs, avoid on-chain transactions during the period of active chain split until economic consensus emerges. Your coins will exist on both branches; picking the losing chain means loss of purchasing power.

— Monitor BIP 110 signaling and economic actor announcements (exchanges, miners, merchants). Start9 Labs and a small Ocean pool faction are currently known supporters. A public commitment spreadsheet by major economic nodes would indicate serious intent; its absence suggests low real-world support.

— Be aware that mempool filters (run locally) protect your node from processing spam but do not prevent spam from reaching the blockchain. Soft fork consensus changes are required to enforce chain-wide rules, but contentious soft forks carry severe risks of economic bifurcation.