Adam Back: Bitcoin won’t fire miners in August 2026

Blockstream CEO Adam Back posted on X that Bitcoin will not “fire the miners” in August 2026 and described developer Luke Dashjr’s effort as the launch of a separate Bitcoin-style coin using a different proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm. The comments came amid debate over BIP-110, a proposal with an early August 2026 deadline to limit how much non-financial data, such as images, can be embedded in Bitcoin transactions.

Back said the proposal does not change Bitcoin’s protocol and that the initiative from Dashjr amounts to a spin-off coin. Back and other developers note that only a small number of miners and node operators have signaled support for BIP-110 so far.

The controversy centers on mining hardware. Bitcoin mining today runs on specialized ASIC machines designed for one PoW method. A change to PoW would make those machines unable to mine the main chain, which prompted some observers to describe miners being “fired.” Back wrote: ‘bitcoin is not firing miners, luke is starting a new bitcoin airdrop style altcoin with a different PoW. like bitcoin gold.’ He also warned the split could produce a small rival chain rather than replace the main Bitcoin network.

Back compared Dashjr’s plan to Bitcoin Gold, a 2017 fork that copied Bitcoin’s code and switched to GPU mining. Bitcoin Gold did not approach Bitcoin in mining power or security, Back noted, and he said a copy without comparable mining strength would offer weaker protection.

Luke Dashjr has argued for new mining rules on the basis that most mining machines are manufactured by a single company, Bitmain, and that hardware concentration gives outsized influence to a few firms. Supporters of changing PoW say new rules could widen access to mining. Critics point to the technical and economic disruption of switching PoW for an established network.

Mining operators have faced pressure this year. Mining profitability declined, and mining difficulty fell sharply in March when some operators repurposed hardware for AI workloads. Continued weakness in Bitcoin’s price has reduced operators’ earnings. Investor Michael Saylor described the proposal as a threat to the Bitcoin protocol, reflecting concern among some large holders.

As of now, the main Bitcoin chain continues to run under existing rules and miners remain active. It remains uncertain whether Dashjr will attract sufficient support to launch a separate coin. Past examples of Bitcoin forks and copies have generally failed to match Bitcoin’s network security and mining power.