BIP-110 Activation Frozen After Coldcard Exploit: Is the Soft Fork Dead?

The developers pushing Bitcoin’s BIP-110 rule change have called off its launch. They blamed the industry response to a Coldcard wallet flaw that left user funds easier to steal.

Udi Wertheimer announced the delay, urging anyone running BIP-110 software to switch back to a normal Bitcoin (BTC) node. He gave no new date.

Why BIP-110 Activation Was Paused

BIP-110 is a temporary rule change, known as a soft fork. It would limit how much data people can pack into Bitcoin transactions.

Supporters say that data crowds out ordinary payments. Critics say Bitcoin should not police what users store.

The limits would last one year. Developer Dathon Ohm wrote the rules, and Bitcoin Knots software ships them.

Miners started voting on December 1, 2025. The Bitcoin blockspace spam debate had already split the community.

Then a separate problem landed.

Coinkite disclosed the bug on July 30. Its COLDCARD wallets built seed phrases, the master key behind a wallet, using far less randomness than promised. Roughly 72 bits instead of 128.

That gap makes a seed vastly easier to guess. Wallets running firmware released since March 2021 were hit hardest.

Updating the device does not fix a seed it already made. Coinkite is telling owners to move their money.

Thieves had already drained wallets tied to the flaw. The company has not said how much was lost.

Wertheimer called the delay a matter of timing, not doubt.

“…due to the coldcard incident, BIP-110 community leaders have decided to DELAY ACTIVATION. a new activation date will be announced at a later time,” he wrote.

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The Math Was Already Settled

Miners back a rule change by flagging their blocks. BIP-110 needed 55% of blocks in a two-week stretch. That means 1,109 blocks. The live monitor counted 30.

That is 2.63% of 1,068 blocks mined this period. It is the best BIP-110 has ever managed. It is still more than 20 times short.

Every earlier two-week stretch since December finished below 1.3%. Only 948 blocks are left. Even if every one voted yes, the total would reach about 48%. It could not pass this round.

That was already true days before anyone announced a delay.

Michael Saylor has warned about Bitcoin neutrality for weeks. He says almost every yes vote comes from one mining pool. Blockstream chief executive Adam Back has flagged chain split risk, calling the 55% bar too low to be safe.

A second phase was due at block 961,632, about six days away. It would reject any block that did not vote yes.

Nodes still running BIP-110 would enforce that on their own. That is why the warning to switch back matters.

No one owns Bitcoin’s rules. Nobody can flip a switch to start or stop a soft fork. This was a request, not a command.

Whether operators listen will say more about BIP-110’s support than any vote counter has.

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