Foundry USA, the mining pool that commands approximately 33% of the global Bitcoin hashrate, has opened a hashrate-weighted vote asking its customers whether the pool should signal support for BIP-110. The proposal, if adopted, would shrink the amount of non-monetary data that can be stuffed into a Bitcoin transaction.
Current miner signaling for BIP-110 sits below 1% as of mid-July 2026.
How the vote works
Foundry’s voting mechanism uses each miner’s average hashrate over a ten-day window, from July 6 to July 15, 2026, to weight their ballot. Non-responses default to a “No” vote. Foundry has said it will only flip its signaling to “Yes” if supporters clear the 51% threshold of total participating hashrate.
The voting window extends until early August 2026, roughly aligned with Bitcoin reaching block 961,632.
On July 21, 2026, Foundry published a resource guide outlining the pros and cons of BIP-110, linking to supporting materials so miners can make an informed decision.
What BIP-110 actually does
BIP-110 was introduced in December 2025 by Dathon Ohm. It targets the practice of embedding large chunks of non-financial data into Bitcoin transactions, something that became a heated topic after inscription-based protocols like Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens started consuming significant block space in 2022 and 2023.
BIP-110 proposes a temporary soft fork that imposes limits on transaction sizes and constrains certain Taproot capabilities that enable this data embedding. The proposal includes a one-year expiration period after activation, roughly 52,416 blocks, after which the restrictions would automatically sunset unless renewed.
The battle lines
Supporters argue that Bitcoin was built to be money, not a data storage layer, pointing to periods when inscription activity caused fee spikes that priced out ordinary users.
Critics raise two main objections. First, miners have come to depend on the fees generated by data-heavy transactions, especially as block subsidies continue their halving-driven decline. Second, opponents raise the censorship precedent concern: if the network starts deciding which types of valid transactions to restrict at the consensus level, that principle could extend beyond inscriptions to other transaction types.
What this means for investors
At roughly 33% of the network hashrate, a decision by Foundry to signal for BIP-110 would instantly make it the loudest voice in the room. But with current signaling below 1%, the proposal has a mountain to climb.
Post-halving economics already put pressure on mining profitability. Transaction fees from inscription-related activity have served as a meaningful buffer for some operations. If BIP-110 activates and that fee premium shrinks, the weakest miners may face squeeze conditions.
The temporary nature of the proposal—that built-in one-year expiration of roughly 52,416 blocks—limits the long-term risk. Traders watching this space should monitor the vote’s progress as the early August deadline approaches.