Simple Mining rejected the BIP-110 fork and mined block 961,634 [1] on the Bitcoin main chain during the weekend of Aug. 8-9.
The move highlights a growing rift between individual mining operations and the pools that aggregate their power, potentially shifting how network upgrades are signaled.
Simple Mining operates its machines through the Ocean mining pool, which uses the DATUM protocol to coordinate miners worldwide [1, 2]. While the Ocean pool defaulted to supporting the BIP-110 fork, Simple Mining used its software settings to opt out of the signal [1, 5]. This decision allowed the company to continue securing the primary chain despite the pool's default configuration.
The company said it chose not to support the fork due to a low level of community backing for the proposal [5]. According to observations by Simple Mining, only about 2.6% [1] of the total hashrate supported BIP-110. Other reports indicate the migration to the minority chain was even smaller, with approximately 0.15% [3] of hashpower moving to the fork, while 99.85% [3] remained on the main chain.
The attempt to fork the network was further complicated by technical failures. A Stratum error lasted 18 hours [4], which misdirected some miners toward the minority chain during the process.
Despite the pool's default stance, the ability of individual miners to override these settings suggests that pool operators may have less control over the network's direction than previously thought. The failure of the BIP-110 fork to gain traction demonstrates the difficulty of implementing significant changes to the Bitcoin protocol without broad consensus among the hardware operators.
“Simple Mining rejected the BIP-110 fork and mined block 961,634 on the Bitcoin main chain.”
This event underscores the tension between mining pool centralization and individual miner autonomy. Because the vast majority of hashpower remained on the main chain, the BIP-110 attempt failed to achieve the critical mass necessary for a successful hard fork. It reinforces the precedent that Bitcoin's protocol remains resistant to changes that lack overwhelming support from the actual hardware providers, regardless of the software defaults set by major pools.
