The Bitcoin community recently debated an unsuccessful soft fork activation. The node software Bitcoin Knots described the event as an “attack” on the network, claiming block production had significantly slowed. However, subsequent context from the community revealed that the main chain remained unaffected; what actually occurred was that a minority of nodes supporting BIP-110 forked away from the main Bitcoin chain.
Schwartz criticizes the distortion of the claim
David Schwartz, CTO of Ripple and architect of the XRP Ledger, publicly criticized statements regarding Bitcoin Knots on X, stating that such claims either mislead users unfamiliar with the context or embarrass the speakers themselves. He noted that regardless of external views on BIP-110, the way this event has been described warrants scrutiny.
Bitcoin Knots previously warned users that the Bitcoin network was "under attack" and advised against downgrading software or switching to what it called insecure node implementations.
In reality, a few chains have diverged from the main chain.
According to community clarifications, this was not an attack on the Bitcoin network. The issue arose because BIP-110 failed to activate as a soft fork, causing Bitcoin Knots nodes implementing the proposal's rules to diverge from the main chain.
The Bitcoin main chain, supported by the majority of nodes, continued to produce blocks normally without any overall halt. Monitoring data shows that the chain split occurred at block height 961,632. Subsequently, the branch implementing BIP-110 quickly fell behind the main chain due to lack of miner support.
- The main chain was once advanced to block 961,681.
- A node implementing BIP-110 remains stuck at 961,633.
- The block interval for this branch is reportedly extended to several hours.
In comparison, the normal block time for Bitcoin is typically around 10 minutes, meaning that the slowdown occurs primarily in a few branches rather than across the entire Bitcoin network.
Minor branches receive limited future support.
The report also mentioned that Bitcoin Knots plans to select a new proof-of-work algorithm through a deterministic random process. Currently, the BIP-110 fork has not received sufficient miner support and has not altered the continued operation of the main chain.
This dispute again demonstrates that node implementations, miner support, and community communication all influence external perceptions of the network’s status during Bitcoin protocol upgrades.