BIP-110 fork has finally fallen behind Bitcoin: the gap has exceeded 300 blocks.
The BIP-110 branch, which split from the Bitcoin main network, is showing a critical lag: the gap with the mainnet has exceeded 300 blocks. This is not just a technical failure, but a natural result of inherited mining difficulty, which currently stands at 127.48 trillion.
The key problem with the fork is the lack of a mechanism for rapid difficulty reduction. The protocol requires the completion of a full 2,016-block period, corresponding to height #963,647. Only after this can the network adapt its parameters to the actual hash rate. However, the current situation looks bleak: BIP-110 accounts for only a negligible percentage of Bitcoin's computing power.
Estimates for recovery time vary across an extremely wide range—from 350 days to 25 years. This volatility in forecasts is explained by uncertainty about the fork's future hash rate. If miners do not step up, the process could drag on for decades, effectively putting an end to the viability of this branch.
Analytical Perspective
Such incidents clearly demonstrate why difficulty adjustment mechanisms are a critically important element of any blockchain. BIP-110, apparently, did not account for the scenario of a sharp drop in hash rate, and is now paying for it with years of downtime. In my practice, this is not the first fork that "gets stuck" due to an ill-conceived economic model—the market once again confirms that technical proficiency without considering real miner incentives leads to stagnation.