Daily Crypto Briefs 
CASABLANCA, August 8, 2026
Bitcoin was 12 blocks from BIP-110’s mandatory signaling window at about 18:33 UTC on Saturday, moving the contested temporary soft-fork proposal to its closest confirmed threshold yet as BTC traded near $64,993.
The Bitcoin chain stood at block 961,620 when Daily Crypto Briefs checked mempool.space. The BIP-110 specification sets block 961,632 as the start of a 2,016-block window during which its deployment requires miners to signal bit 4.
The move is a material update from Friday, when Bitcoin was 166 blocks from the same threshold. Reaching the window would not activate the proposal or confirm a Bitcoin chain split. It would start the BIP’s required signaling stage, whose rules remain disputed by parts of the Bitcoin community.
Bitcoin was up about 0.3% over 24 hours, with market capitalization near $1.30 trillion and 24-hour trading volume near $13.09 billion in the market snapshot reviewed for this report; CoinMarketCap’s Bitcoin page provides a current public reference. Alternative.me’s Crypto Fear and Greed Index stood at 30, classified as Fear.
Bitcoin
BTCThe BIP calls itself a “Reduced Data Temporary Softfork.” Its stated aim is to put consensus limits on several ways new transactions can carry data, including certain output scripts, pushes and Taproot constructs. The proposal says existing UTXOs are grandfathered, so the new rules would apply only to UTXOs created at or after activation.
Bitcoin BIP-110 Reaches Its Final 12-Block Countdown
The immediate development is mechanical: 961,632 is written into the deployment schedule. Block production is variable, so a 12-block gap is not a precise time estimate, but it places the threshold within a normal short mining interval rather than days away.
BIP-110’s deployment differs from a standard, time-limited BIP9 process. The specification has no timeout and instead names a maximum activation height of 965,664. It also uses a lower 55% threshold, or 1,109 of 2,016 blocks, during its earlier signaling rules.
The proposal says mandatory signaling runs from 961,632 through 963,647. In that period, blocks that fail to signal bit 4 are rejected as invalid under the proposed rules. That makes this passage more than a routine calendar marker if miners and node operators do not converge on the same interpretation.
No public chain data reviewed for this article confirms an activation, a fork, failed blocks or interrupted Bitcoin transfers. The only confirmed change from the previous report is the sharply reduced distance to the required signaling range.
Mandatory Signaling Is Not BIP-110 Activation
The distinction is central. BIP-110 says mandatory signaling ends once the deployment reaches LOCKED_IN, which the schedule places no later than block 963,648. It then says the rules become ACTIVE at block 965,664, where they would run for 52,416 blocks, roughly one year.
That staging means users should not read the first block in the mandatory window as a blanket change to transaction validity. The BIP’s consensus restrictions are proposed to apply at activation, not simply because the chain has reached the signaling start height.
The document’s language is unusually direct: “During mandatory signaling, the deployment’s bit is included in ‘vbrequired.’” The same specification says the window is meant to ensure lock-in by the stated height, rather than leave the process open-ended.
For wallets and services, the near-term issue is operational observation, not a need to alter ordinary balances. The grandfathering clause says inputs spending UTXOs created before activation are exempt from the new rules, although the proposal acknowledges possible edge cases involving some pre-signed Taproot transactions.
Miners, Nodes and Block 961,632 Are the Next Checks
Miner signals are visible in block data, but they are not the whole governance process. Mining pools decide what they produce, while economic nodes decide which validation rules they accept. The gap between those actions is why a mandated window can become a focal point for a contested change.
Foundry previously told eligible clients it would use a hashrate-weighted vote to guide its BIP-110 signal, as reported in our coverage of the Foundry miner vote. The latest blocks show multiple pools producing the chain, so pool notices and block-level data will be more useful than general claims about a settled result.
The proposal is separate from the industry’s longer-term Bitcoin-security work, including a $15 million consortium focused on quantum readiness. BIP-110 instead centers on how much data the base layer should accept and how quickly a temporary consensus rule can be deployed.
Fear & Greed Index
August 8, 2026The next public check is unambiguous: whether Bitcoin reaches block 961,632 and how the following blocks signal. After that, the relevant milestones are 963,648 for no-later-than lock-in and 965,664 for the BIP’s specified activation height. Until those conditions are observed on-chain, activation remains unconfirmed.
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Primary sources and further reading
| Source | Title |
|---|---|
| | Bitcoin BIPs: BIP-110 Reduced Data Temporary Softfork |
| | mempool.space: Bitcoin blocks |
| | CoinMarketCap: Bitcoin market data |
| | Alternative.me: Crypto Fear and Greed Index |
Fact-checked by: Daily Crypto Briefs Fact-Check Desk
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Frequently Asked Questions
Has Bitcoin BIP-110 entered mandatory signaling?
Not at the time of this check. Bitcoin was at block 961,620, while BIP-110 defines 961,632 as the start of mandatory signaling. The exact calendar arrival can shift because blocks are not produced on a fixed schedule.
What happens during BIP-110 mandatory signaling?
The BIP says the reduced_data deployment's bit 4 is required in blocks from 961,632 through 963,647. Under the proposal, a block without that signal in the window is invalid.
Does mandatory signaling mean the BIP-110 soft fork is active?
No. The specification separates mandatory signaling from activation. It says lock-in occurs no later than block 963,648 and the temporary rules become active at block 965,664.
What would BIP-110 change if it activates?
The proposal would temporarily restrict specified data-carrying transaction formats and some Taproot constructions for new UTXOs. It says UTXOs created before activation are grandfathered.
What should Bitcoin users watch next?
Watch the observed block height, block-level bit-4 signaling, mining-pool notices and whether the chain approaches the stated lock-in and activation heights without disruption.