OCEAN hashrate collapses 96% as miners demand ouster over BIP-110

OCEAN's reported hashrate collapsed more than 96% after the pool redirected some miners' computing power to the failed BIP-110 minority chain without clear consent.

The disclosure triggered immediate backlash, with Blockstream CEO Adam Back calling the move unacceptable and demanding the resulting losses be deducted from OCEAN co-founder Luke Dashjr's salary.

The incident lasted roughly 18 hours, during which affected miners believed they were using non-BIP-110 Stratum templates while their hardware mined blocks on a separate fork. The BIP-110 chain produced just two blocks — 961,632 and 961,633 — before stalling, while the main Bitcoin chain advanced more than 90 blocks ahead. Miner support for the proposal peaked at 2.6 percent, far below the 55 percent threshold required for activation.

The episode raises broader questions about miner autonomy and the influence pools hold over Bitcoin's block construction. OCEAN, which brands itself on returning full block-template control to individual miners, now faces a reputational crisis that could accelerate hashrate migration away from the pool.

A hashrate 'hijack' and a 96% collapse

The controversy follows weeks of debate over BIP-110, a proposed protocol change targeting certain types of non-monetary data. OCEAN acknowledged that some miners using its Stratum templates may have been directed to the BIP-110 chain despite selecting the non-BIP-110 option.

An X user described the incident as a hashrate "hijack" and called for the immediate removal of those responsible. Roughnecks, the mining group behind the BIP-110 chain's only two blocks, abandoned the effort on Aug. 9 and urged remaining miners to stop supporting the minority chain.

The backlash coincided with a dramatic decline in OCEAN's reported hashrate. The pool accounts for roughly 1.6 percent of total network hashrate, and the collapse highlights the risks of pool-controlled mining templates: individual miners may own their hardware, but pools often determine which chain their machines support. Simple Mining, which runs machines through OCEAN, used the pool's DATUM protocol to mine block 961,634 on the main chain without signaling BIP-110 support.

A governance split that reached a hard fork

The dispute reflects a broader division over Bitcoin's neutrality. Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, warned that the proposal could create a dangerous precedent for Bitcoin governance, publishing 110 arguments against it. Adam Back previously called the BIP-110 campaign "idiocracy."

Supporters led by Dashjr have refused to accept defeat and are planning to change the proof-of-work algorithm, which would turn the split into a separate cryptocurrency. Node support for BIP-110 stood at 15.07 percent — 17,913 of 118,850 nodes — according to monitoring data.

The uncertainty is reflected in the broader market. Bitcoin traded around $65,000 as of Aug. 10, nearly 49 percent below its all-time high of approximately $126,000, and recently lagged gold, silver, and the Japanese yen.

For the broader market, the lesson is straightforward: the rapid collapse of the BIP-110 chain shows the Bitcoin ecosystem rejects forced protocol changes and unilateral corporate interventions. Even if the fork has collapsed, the fallout from the hashrate controversy could affect OCEAN long after the minority chain disappears.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.