Michael Saylor lists 110 reasons BIP-110 is a bad idea for Bitcoin

Michael Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy, published a 3,700-word critique on X.com on July 19 detailing "110 reasons" why Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 110 would undermine the network's neutrality, warning the "cure is more dangerous than the condition."

"Bitcoin cannot read intent. The network cannot know whether bytes represent an image, a proof, a contract, metadata, an authentication record, or a future application," Saylor wrote. "By banning 'spam,' the protocol would effectively elevate human judgment into protocol law."

BIP-110, introduced by pseudonymous developer "Dathon Ohm" with support from Ocean protocol founder Luke Dashjr, would impose seven distinct consensus restrictions including caps on data payload sizes and limits on Taproot control blocks. The proposal uses a 55% miner-signaling threshold — well below the standard 95% — which Saylor called "too aggressive," warning it could trigger a network split. In the last signaling period (period 475, blocks 955,584 to 957,599), only 1% of blocks supported activation.

The dispute arrives as Ordinals activity sits at near all-time lows — fewer than 10,000 daily inscriptions, down from 400,000 at its August 2023 peak, according to Dune Analytics. Saylor argues that market-based fees and individual relay policies, not consensus changes, should address spam, warning that BIP-110 could restrict innovation, weaken miner incentives and undermine Bitcoin's role as an open, permissionless financial system.

BIP-110's Seven Restrictions and the Neutrality Debate

The proposal targets what supporters call "spam" — Ordinals inscriptions and other arbitrary data stored on the Bitcoin blockchain. Its seven restrictions would cap script sizes, restrict Taproot control blocks, and bar spending of undefined witness versions, among other changes. Supporters including Dashjr have called Ordinals-driven bloat a "serious threat" to the network requiring an imminent fix.

Blockstream CEO Adam Back has previously criticized BIP-110, describing it as a "quest to police other people," arguing Bitcoin's decentralization means "you can't impose your views on others."

Saylor's sharpest warning targets Bitcoin's future optionality. BIP-110 would close certain reserved technical options, including those tied to BitVM, an experimental method for building complex agreements on Bitcoin without a trusted intermediary. He also noted the seven changes are presented as a single package — supporters cannot back the narrower rule most agree on without accepting six others.

DOG Mode Emerges as the Philosophical Counterpoint

The debate has widened with the introduction of "DOG Mode," an alternative Bitcoin client from developer Leonidas that relaxes default relay policies affecting Ordinals and Runes transactions without changing consensus rules. Where BIP-110 seeks to tighten the network, DOG Mode represents the philosophical mirror image — arguing Bitcoin should remain a neutral marketplace for block space where any valid transaction is equally legitimate provided the sender pays the prevailing fee.

Saylor's firm holds 843,775 BTC, worth $54.31 billion as of Sunday, making it the world's largest publicly listed Bitcoin treasury. "Bitcoin does not need guardians of purity," he wrote in closing. "It needs guardians of neutrality."

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