What Impact Does Bitcoin BIP110 Have on the Bitcoin in Your Hands? #BTC

The Bitcoin community has recently been discussing a proposal called BIP-110, which many newcomers may not have heard of. This article explains in the simplest way what it is, its current progress, and its actual impact on ordinary holders.

What is BIP (Bitcoin Improvement Proposal)-110?

BIP-110 (official name Reduced Data Temporary Softfork, abbreviated RDTS) is a proposed soft fork to limit the amount of arbitrary data that can be carried in Bitcoin transactions. Notably, this proposal was authored by anonymous developer Dathon Ohm and was initially proposed in October 2025 under the name BIP-444 before being officially renumbered.

An interesting detail: BIP numbering editor Mark "Murch" Erhardt publicly commented that it is "an ill-considered and unusually rushed soft fork proposal" while assigning the number, but since it met the database inclusion criteria, it was still numbered. Therefore, in the Bitcoin community, "getting a BIP number" does not imply community endorsement.

Specific restrictions include:

• OP_RETURN limit restored to an 83-byte cap
• Taproot mechanisms (commonly used for inscriptions): restrictions on Taproot annex, control block, and certain Tapscript function usage
• New output size: most new transaction outputs limited to 34 bytes
• Data push generally limited to 256 bytes
• Spending undefined witness or Tapleaf versions will be considered invalid

Why does this proposal exist?

The root of this matter traces back to the Taproot upgrade in 2021:

• After the Taproot upgrade activated in 2021, developers could embed images, text, and other data directly into Bitcoin transactions
• In 2022, "inscription" technology emerged, storing arbitrary data in the witness field of transactions
• In early 2023, Ordinals popularized this technology, bringing images and NFT-like assets onto the Bitcoin chain, followed by the Runes protocol further driving meme coin minting on the Bitcoin chain

Supporters believe these non-financial uses occupy significant block space and deviate from Bitcoin's original intent as "peer-to-peer electronic cash," so they hope to force these uses out by restricting data size.

Proposal activation mechanism and current progress

Bitcoin's past rule changes have almost always required "near-unanimous miner" (usually 95%) agreement to activate. However, BIP-110 is different—it uses UASF (User-Activated Soft Fork), which simply means:

It does not require full miner agreement; as long as a group of "users/nodes" insist on using the new rules, they will begin enforcing them themselves—miners who do not follow will have their blocks considered invalid by this group.

The threshold drops from the traditional 95% to 55%, deliberately lowering the difficulty of "convincing miners."

Three key time points, understood via a timeline

I'll use a simple analogy: imagine this is a "two-week round" vote, with each round tallying how many miners raise their hands in support.

Four phases:

1. Signaling period begins (2025/12/1)—miners can optionally signal support in blocks; this is an "observation period" with no enforcement.
2. Voluntary lock-in deadline (approx. 8/7, block 961,632)—if 55% miner support is already reached before this, it can lock in early. Currently far from reaching it.
3. Mandatory signaling period—after the voluntary deadline, this phase theoretically forces miners to make clearer statements, but even here, support must still reach 55% to count.
4. Activation (if threshold met) (approx. 9/1, block 965,664)—only if truly met will the new rules officially take effect for supporting nodes for one year.

Plain-language summary: This entire mechanism is like "phased voting," with later stages approaching the decisive moment, but as of now, support at every stage remains far below the passing threshold, so it will most likely end at the "signaling phase" without actually reaching activation.

What impact does it have on ordinary investors?

Based on current support levels, this proposal is highly unlikely to comprehensively change Bitcoin network rules, so the BTC on the main chain you hold will not be affected.

The real risk scenario to watch is if abnormal changes occur during the mandatory signaling period, which could temporarily increase market narrative hype or volatility. However, this is an emotional aspect rather than an actual change to on-chain rules.

The threshold for modifying consensus rules in Bitcoin has always been very high, and this discussion to some extent reflects that, which is one reason many people consider Bitcoin trustworthy.

This matter is still developing, and details along with the latest progress will continue to be updated on my Threads (cryptomommy9429). Those interested can follow for the latest developments.

⚠️Disclaimer: This article is for current events education and information compilation only and does not constitute any investment advice. The cryptocurrency market is highly volatile; readers should judge and bear investment risks on their own.