Bitcoin Developers Advance BIP-54 Soft Fork Proposal Targeting Four Legacy Flaws

Bitcoin developers are advancing BIP-54, known as the Great Consensus Cleanup, with co-author Matt Corallo estimating an 80% likelihood it will become the network's next soft fork upgrade. Designed to address four technical vulnerabilities dating back to 2009 without altering Bitcoin's economic model, the upgrade targets timewarp attacks, excessive block validation times, Merkle tree bugs, and duplicate coinbase transactions. First drafted in 2019 and fully specified in May 2026, the proposal has gained testnet traction and mainnet mining pool compatibility, though developer estimates suggest activation is unlikely before 2027 or 2028.