Adam Back Talks About Bitcoin BIP-110 Controversy. “Satoshi Was Not Retarded”

Adam Back, Blockstream’s CEO, dismissed claims that Satoshi Nakamoto backed BIP-110, a contested Bitcoin (BTC) soft fork proposal. He mocked its backers on X for failing to fund what he called a cypherpunk summer celebration.

The exchange unfolded on July 18, 2026, as the debate over BIP-110 proposal approaches a critical signaling deadline. Back predicted the fork attempt would collapse within weeks of that deadline.

Adam Back Questions the Satoshi Assumption

A user on X argued Nakamoto would still back BIP-110 if he were alive today. Back rejected the premise outright. He then questioned whether Nakamoto is even dead, calling it pure speculation either way.

just in general, satoshi wasn't retarded.

— Adam Back (@adam3us) July 18, 2026

Back also denied being Nakamoto himself. The remark reopened a long-running debate over Bitcoin governance and who speaks for its founding vision. Back has weighed in on this dispute before, in his earlier fork risk warning.

Bitcoin, meanwhile, traded near $63,944 on the Bitcoin price chart, up 1.43% in 24 hours.

also what makes you think he's dead?unlikely, but possible, either way pure speculation…

— Adam Back (@adam3us) July 18, 2026

BIP-110 Struggles to Gain Miner Support

BIP-110 would temporarily cap the size of arbitrary data miners can embed in Bitcoin transactions, targeting Ordinals-style inscriptions. However, miner backing has stayed minimal so far. Signaling data show just 0.86% of blocks in the current difficulty period support the proposal. That is far short of the 55% threshold needed for lock-in.

Back mocked the proposal’s backers directly, pointing to their failure to monetize the campaign.

sad part is we didnt manage to get the 110 fork to pay for the cypherpunk summer afterparty. no airdrop, no liquidity, no fork futures. no money where their mouth is. ofc as they too know it’s failed.

Back

The comment, meanwhile, echoes the long-running BIP-110 dispute that has split developers for months.

What Happens When Signaling Turns Mandatory

Mandatory signaling begins around block 961,632, roughly three weeks from Friday’s chain tip near block 958,529. Back predicted the fork would stall almost immediately afterward.

He said the first mandatory signaling block would trigger an automatic split. Bitcoin nodes always follow the chain with the most cumulative work.

Miners would have little reason to keep mining once their chain fell behind, Back said. He compared the abandoned fork to a “Pompeii chain,” frozen as a monument to the attempt’s failure.

The prediction follows Back’s earlier pushback against separate claims that Bitcoin would effectively fire noncompliant miners in August.

It also lands alongside renewed chatter about Satoshi’s dormant coins, another flashpoint in the identity debate.

Whether BIP-110 activates or fades away may hinge on how many miners flip the switch once signaling turns mandatory.