Foundry Lets Miners Vote on Controversial Bitcoin BIP 110 Proposal

Foundry, the largest Bitcoin mining pool operator, is letting its clients decide how to signal for the BIP 110 proposal. The firm announced that miners can use their computing power to vote for or against the soft fork. Since Foundry controls roughly one third of the total network hashrate, its final stance will likely play a major role in whether the proposal moves forward.

BIP 110 aims to limit spam on the Bitcoin blockchain by restricting the amount of non monetary data allowed in transactions. Proponents argue this will help the network focus on its original purpose as peer to peer money. Meanwhile, critics suggest that changing these rules could create unnecessary policy disputes and potentially invalidate transactions that pay fees.

Miners will have their votes weighted by their average hashrate recorded between July 6 and July 15. The pool will signal based on the majority result. Foundry currently defaults to a no vote, but will switch to yes if more than 51 percent of the voting power favors the change. The signaling process is expected to continue until early August.