Bitcoin Hard Fork Launches to Widespread Indifference

Luke Dashjr's Bitcoin hard fork became active on September 1 but generated barely any activity. The new BLAKE2b chain attracted negligible hashrate, while Blockstream CEO Adam Back summed up the event in a single line.

By swapping Bitcoin's mining algorithm, Dashjr split from BTC, aiming to allow ordinary computers to mine once more. The move was largely overlooked by miners and exchanges.

Why the Bitcoin Hard Fork Failed Quickly

Dashjr's BIP-110 proposal seeks to remove non-financial data from Bitcoin blocks. His supporters refer to the main network as "Spamcoin." In contrast, most of the community treated the chain split on September 1 as a non-event.

The situation follows a familiar pattern. A prior BIP-110 fork stopped after just two blocks in August. Subsequently, mining pool OCEAN faced calls to replace its leadership after it directed customer hashrate to that chain without clear consent.

Switching the algorithm cut off Dashjr from the industry's hardware infrastructure. Because BLAKE2b replaced SHA-256, the specialized rigs that secure Bitcoin cannot work on the new chain. Hashrate on the fork declined immediately after launch.

Adam Back Sums Up the Outcome

Back used just seven words to summarize the result.

Live by the fork, die by the fork.

Blockstream CEO Adam Back posted this on X.

Dashjr, however, continues to portray the minority chain as the genuine one. He claimed on X that the BTC ticker has belonged to Bitcoin for over a decade and that Bitcoin has now moved to BLAKE2b. On-chain data contradicts this.

Bitcoin just changed to BLAKE2b.

The only recent fork is Spamcoin, which this isn't talking about.

— Luke Dashjr (@LukeDashjr) September 1, 2026

Bitcoin Knots, the node software maintained by Dashjr, made similar arguments in August. David Schwartz, Ripple's former chief technology officer, described them as nonsense at the time.

Traders showed little reaction. The original Bitcoin network continued producing blocks without interruption. BTC traded at around $76,942, declining by about 1.33% in 24 hours.

No major exchange has listed the coin. One small beta platform began taking deposits under the ticker BTCB2, since no official symbol exists yet.

BTCB2 bids on that platform reached a maximum of $82, roughly 900 times below BTC, while the lowest ask was $190. This 131.7% spread indicates virtually no genuine trading.

A chain without miners, listings, or bids still needs buyers who value its blocks.