Saylor and Back Oppose BIP-110 as Bitcoin Governance Tension Escalates

Michael Saylor and Adam Back, two prominent figures in the Bitcoin community, have expressed their opposition to BIP-110, a proposed protocol change aimed at addressing Ordinals-like inscription activity on the network.

The proposal, introduced in December 2025, seeks to discourage arbitrary data from clogging the blockchain and preserve Bitcoin's core role as a peer-to-peer cash network. However, Saylor argues that the proposal is more likely to create harm than solve the problem, and warns of risks extending beyond 'spam.'

According to recent data, only about 1% of blocks in the last evaluated period showed BIP-110 support, raising questions about whether a contentious fix is needed now. Ordinals activity has reportedly fallen sharply from its August 2023 peak, with fewer than 10,000 inscriptions recorded per day over the last month.

Proponents of BIP-110 argue that an imminent fix is needed to protect Bitcoin's long-term integrity and reduce the risk of bloat. However, critics worry that introducing protocol-level enforcement could undermine neutrality and create unpredictable outcomes. The proposal would require 55% of validating nodes to support it across a Bitcoin block 'period' for activation.

With reported node support so low in the latest block period and Ordinals activity already far below its earlier peak, the immediate question is whether BIP-110 can gain the necessary majority backing. The dispute reflects a core tension within Bitcoin's development culture: whether developers should intervene at the protocol level to address perceived network bloat.