Luke Dashjr's ambitious project to "cleanse" Bitcoin of non-financial data, launched on September 1, has effectively ended in failure. The new network using the BLAKE2b algorithm, which the developer positioned as a return to the true principles of the first cryptocurrency, failed to attract either significant computing power or interest from key market players. Blockstream CEO Adam Back succinctly drew a line under this initiative, and his verdict sounds like a death sentence.
Why the hard fork did not materialize
The essence of the BIP-110 proposal promoted by Dashjr was a radical simplification of the block structure: remove everything not related to payments, leaving only pure transactions. Supporters of the idea did not mince words, calling the main network "Spamcoin." However, the overwhelming majority of ecosystem participants treated the split that occurred on September 1 as an event unworthy of attention.
Notably, this is not the first such attempt. Back in August, an alternative branch with BIP-110 existed for only two blocks, after which miners—whose hashing power the OCEAN pool directed to the new fork without explicit consent—effectively demanded a return to the status quo.
The key problem was the change in the hashing algorithm. The transition from SHA-256 to BLAKE2b automatically rendered all specialized ASIC devices—the backbone of the Bitcoin mining industry—useless. As a result, the hash rate of the new chain collapsed almost immediately after launch, sealing its fate.
Community and market reaction
Adam Back, whose comment on social network X effectively became a meme, used just one phrase: "Live by the fork, die by the fork." Dashjr himself, however, continues to insist that it is his secondary chain that is the "real Bitcoin," claiming that the BTC ticker belonged to the original network for over a decade, and now "Bitcoin has moved to BLAKE2b." Blockchain data suggests otherwise.
The developer made similar statements in August while promoting his Bitcoin Knots program. At that time, former Ripple CTO David Schwartz dismissed them as nothing short of nonsense.
The market, for its part, showed no reaction to this event. The main network continued to function without disruption, and the BTC price held steadily near the $76,900 mark. Major exchanges did not even add the new asset to their listings. Only one small test platform opened order books under the ticker BTCB2—the new network has no official designation yet.
Trading volumes on that platform are telling: buy orders for BTCB2 never rose above $82, roughly 900 times lower than Bitcoin's price, while the minimum ask price is $190. A spread of 131.7% clearly indicates the absence of any real liquidity.
My analysis: This episode once again demonstrates that a technically sound but economically unviable idea is doomed to fail in an industry where miner and capital incentives are the primary driving force. Dashjr is undoubtedly a talented developer, but his vision of a "pure" Bitcoin ignores the fundamental principle of the network effect, which cannot be overcome by simply changing an algorithm. The market has voted with its feet, and that decision looks final.