BIP-110 is designed to restrict non-financial data on Bitcoin through a consensus-level change, yet it has failed to gain meaningful miner support. In contrast, a proposed DOG Mode client takes the opposite approach, aiming to loosen restrictions without requiring any formal approval from the network.

The concept surfaced shortly after reports indicated that efforts to purge non-financial data were nearing their deadline with virtually no backing from miners. Rather than pursuing consensus, some developers are now considering a path that bypasses it entirely.

Leonidas, co-founder of Runestone and a leading voice in the Ordinals and Runes ecosystem, has proposed an open-source Bitcoin client called DOG Mode.

This client would remove two key constraints enforced by Bitcoin Core, the software used by most nodes. One limit caps the size of transactions that nodes will relay, while the other sets a minimum value threshold for transaction outputs.

Consensus rules define what makes a block valid, and breaking them would isolate a node from the network. Relay policy, however, is more flexible, determining which transactions a node chooses to forward. Bitcoin Core currently blocks “non-standard” transactions from being relayed, even if they comply with consensus rules.

Since the vast majority of nodes run Core, its default settings effectively shape Bitcoin’s behavior in practice. While miners can still include these transactions if they receive them directly, Core does not relay them, requiring users to submit such transactions straight to miners. Services like MARA’s Slipstream facilitate this process for larger or more complex transactions.

DOG Mode would significantly raise the maximum standard transaction size from 400,000 weight units to 3.9 million. With a Bitcoin block limited to four million weight units, Core currently relays transactions that occupy only about 10% of a block, whereas DOG Mode would allow transactions that nearly fill an entire block.

It would also reduce the dust limit—the minimum output value considered worth relaying—from roughly 294–546 satoshis to just one satoshi, the smallest unit of Bitcoin.

Protocols such as Ordinals, which embed data like images and text into transactions, and Runes, which enable token issuance on Bitcoin, currently require additional bitcoin to meet this threshold. Leonidas argues that removing the dust limit could free up approximately $25 million tied up as padding in these systems.

BIP-110, a user-activated soft fork, requires 55% miner support to activate. However, it has failed to gain traction, recording no support in the current period and never surpassing about 1% historically. This highlights the lack of consensus behind the proposal.

DOG Mode, on the other hand, does not depend on broad agreement. It simply changes what individual nodes are willing to relay. If enough nodes adopt it and at least one miner accepts the fees, those transactions can still be confirmed—without any signaling requirements or deadlines.

Support for BIP-110 remains minimal and is largely concentrated among users of Bitcoin Knots, an alternative client favored by advocates of stricter data limits. DOG Mode would represent the opposite approach—a modified version of Core designed to relax restrictions while staying closer to its original framework than Knots.

At present, DOG Mode remains purely conceptual. There is no codebase, repository, or official release. Leonidas has called on developers to build it, miners to support it, and users to promote it, leaving the project in its early stages.

Leonidas, who helped popularize the Runes protocol and co-founded Runestone—the project behind the DOG token—is now proposing this client while relying on others to develop it. Notably, the proposed changes could release funds back into markets where his token is actively traded.

In essence, BIP-110 seeks to rewrite Bitcoin’s rulebook and requires widespread approval it currently lacks. DOG Mode, by contrast, only alters node behavior and would need just a single miner willing to process the transactions. One approach relies on consensus, while the other sidesteps it entirely.

Following the announcement, DOG token prices remained largely stable, declining about 1.2% over the past 24 hours.