Bitcoin BLAKE2b, a minority fork of Bitcoin launched on August 8, 2026, will implement a significant change by freezing newly mined coins for 45 days to address alleged misuse by miners.
Fork details and technical changes
The Bitcoin BLAKE2b chain originated from members of the BIP-110 camp and Bitcoin Knots supporters who aimed to reduce non-monetary data stored on Bitcoin’s main network. After their proposal failed to secure consensus, the group proceeded with a fork at block height 961,632 in August. Initially, the new chain inherited Bitcoin’s original mining difficulty, which led to a near halt of activity, with just eight blocks mined in the first 22 days.
Activity resumed after developers switched to the BLAKE2b hash function, reset the mining difficulty, and trimmed block size. These adjustments helped the altcoin secure listings on smaller exchanges, and it began trading under the ticker BTCB2 or XBT. The price initially soared to $1,799 in early September before plunging 84% to a current range of $270 to $315.
Lockup conditions and implementation timeline
The upcoming coin freeze will be enforced via Bitcoin Knots pull request #419, titled “Long coinbase maturity.” GitHub records show developer Luke Dashjr opened the request on September 15 and it was merged by September 21. The change will take effect at block 973440, expected around September 22, and will remain in place until block 979920.
Typically, Bitcoin miners can spend their rewards after 100 confirmations. Under the new rules, this period will be extended to 45 days for Bitcoin BLAKE2b miners. According to Dashjr, this is the first in a proposed series of steps, with future plans to increase the maturity window up to a year and potentially revoke rewards for non-miner-made blocks, if consensus is reached.
Release notes for the update accuse “apathetic BLAKE2b incumbents” of exploiting the chain through “blind hashing instead of mining,” alleging that this behavior undermines the network’s integrity.
Developer concerns and exchange support
The decision to implement a coin freeze arises from concerns about network stability and the influence of dominant mining pools. Dashjr has publicly accused certain large pools of “attacking” the network, threatening its ability to stabilize after the initial upheaval caused by the fork.
Reviewers of the pull request warned that if nodes adopt the new rules without support from the majority of miners, the chain risks forking again, creating more network divisions. A release candidate containing these changes has already been distributed.
One reviewer emphasized that “a node running the new rules without the majority of hashrate behind it would fork off at enforcement,” signaling heightened risk for further chain splits.
The broader context includes past attempts at network reform, such as BIP-110, the Reduced Data Temporary Softfork authored by Dathon Ohm in December 2025. That proposal failed to gain traction, with less than 10% of nodes and no top 20 mining pools signaling support by February. Nakamoto founder David Bailey confirmed its demise in early July.
On the exchange front, Neoxa, one of the few platforms listing the asset, has confirmed it will support the soft fork and has advised its users that coinbase maturity will increase with the update.
Given the technical complexity and the rapid pace of changes—including major updates such as lockup periods and new hash functions—market participants face challenges in tracking crucial data and charts across platforms. In such conditions where a single action by bodies like the Fed or the listing of a new altcoin can swiftly alter market dynamics, efficiency is key. Many investors are adopting privacy-focused tools such as CryptoAppsy to combine real-time charts, macroeconomic data, instant price alerts, and coin-specific news, all in one interface, and without registering an account.
