Adam Back: Bitcoin won’t fire miners; Dashjr readies fork

Blockstream CEO Adam Back rejected social posts claiming Bitcoin would “fire” miners in August 2026 and said developer Luke Dashjr is preparing a separate fork or altcoin that would use a different proof‑of‑work. Back said Bitcoin’s main chain would remain unchanged and that Dashjr’s project would be a new coin with different mining rules.

The discussion centers on BIP‑110, a proposal that would limit how much non‑financial data, such as images and other large files, can be stored in Bitcoin blocks. The BIP‑110 deadline is in early August 2026. The proposal has limited backing from miners and node operators.

Changing the proof‑of‑work algorithm would make today’s specialized mining machines unusable on the new chain. Current Bitcoin mining largely depends on ASICs built for a single hashing algorithm. If a chain adopted a different algorithm, existing ASICs could no longer mine on it, which prompted critics to say a new chain would lock out current miners.

On the social platform X, Back wrote: “bitcoin is not firing miners, luke is starting a new bitcoin airdrop style altcoin with a different PoW. like bitcoin gold. #FOFO.” He compared the planned project to Bitcoin Gold, a 2017 copy of Bitcoin that switched to GPU mining and did not reach Bitcoin’s security level or market position, according to Back.

Luke Dashjr has argued for new mining rules for several years, citing concentration in hardware manufacturing. He points to companies such as Bitmain, which produce most of the machines securing the Bitcoin network, and has said that concentration gives a small number of firms large influence over mining.

Economic conditions for miners have been weakening. Mining profitability declined in 2026, and network difficulty fell sharply in March after some operators repurposed rigs for AI workloads. Continued weakness in Bitcoin’s price has reduced miner revenue further.

Back warned in June that the dispute could produce a split and create a small rival chain. Investor Michael Saylor described the proposal as a potential protocol threat.

The main question is whether miners and users will move to a new chain. Past Bitcoin copies and forks have generally faded rather than become direct competitors. The weeks before the early‑August deadline will show whether Dashjr’s effort gains support. For now, Bitcoin’s main chain and its miners continue to operate without change.