Saylor says Bitcoin has no spam problem as BIP-110 vote nears 1% threshold

Strategy Inc. founder Michael Saylor said Bitcoin has no spam problem, citing average transaction fees of $0.30, as the BIP-110 protocol debate escalates.

"After a decade of blockspace fears and non-monetary-use panics, Bitcoin still has no spam problem," Saylor, executive chairman of Strategy Inc., said on X on July 8. "Anyone can move any amount globally with immediate processing for ~$0.30."

Saylor shared Bitcoin's fee estimator showing a rate of 1 satoshi per virtual byte for instant settlements during low congestion. One satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin, equaled $0.00062 at the time. Lightning transactions in the scenario carried a variable fee of 0.0004% of the amount transferred. The number of unconfirmed transactions in the Bitcoin mempool has dropped sharply over the past year, contrasting with the congestion seen in May 2023 driven by Ordinals and BRC-20 tokens.

The debate over blockspace usage has taken on new urgency as BIP-110, a proposal to shrink allowed data per transaction to 256 bytes for one year, approaches a forced activation phase in early August. The proposal has received less than 1% miner support since voting opened in December 2025, raising the risk of a network split.

Critics Point to Low Demand, Not Efficiency

Critics argued that Bitcoin's low fees reflect weak demand rather than network efficiency. A user identified as "Udi #BIP-110" responded to Saylor's post by stating "nobody is using the chain, for any use case, whatsoever."

Former Wall Street trader Fred Krueger also pushed back, warning that market forces would not resolve quantum computing risks to the network. "The free market won't solve quantum," Krueger said on X.

BIP-110 Faces Uncertain Path

BIP-110 author Dathon Ohm, who credits Bitcoin Knots maintainer Luke Dashjr for the first draft, has framed the proposal as existential for the network. "If BIP110 fails, Bitcoin fails with it," Dashjr wrote on July 8.

Ordinals developers have already prepared a workaround. On July 2, developer lifofifoX published a fix that stores data in smaller, allowed pieces, with Ordinals creator Casey Rodarmor approving the change the same day. Blockstream CEO Adam Back has warned of fork risk, while Saylor previously called the plan a self-inflicted risk.

The proposal needs 1,109 flagged blocks out of 2,016 in a two-week window to activate. As of June 30, the public monitor counted just three flagged blocks. From early August, computers running BIP-110 software will reject blocks that do not carry the flag, potentially splitting the network.

Bitcoin traded at $62,495 at the time of writing, up 30% over the prior 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro data.

This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.