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. 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.