TERM_DEF // UPGRADES_BIPS / BIP_90_BURIED_DEPLOYMENTS
BIP 90
(BURIED DEPLOYMENTS)
(BURIED DEPLOYMENTS)
BIP 90 (Buried Deployments). Hard-coding old soft-fork activations into the client to remove versionbits checks.
This page sits in the Upgrades & BIPs section — The proposal process and the major upgrades that shaped Bitcoin. Read on for what it is, why it exists, how it works under the hood, and what to watch out for.
This page sits in the Upgrades & BIPs section — The proposal process and the major upgrades that shaped Bitcoin. Read on for what it is, why it exists, how it works under the hood, and what to watch out for.
WHAT_BIP_90_BURIED_DEPLOYMENTS_IS
BIP 90 (Buried Deployments) — at a glance
UPGRADES
BIP 90 — "Buried Deployments" is a proposal in the Consensus family, first published in 2016 with status final (soft fork). Hard-coding old soft-fork activations into the client to remove versionbits checks. Its technical mechanism: replaces version-bit deployment trackers with hard-coded enforcement heights. tidied up after BIP-34/65/66/68/112/113 were universally adopted
Why it exists
DESIGN
BIP 90 (Buried Deployments) exists to solve a specific problem: bury historical soft fork checks at a fixed block-height/">block height to simplify Core code. Without a written, numbered spec, every wallet and node implementer would interpret the requirement differently — and Bitcoin's value depends on every implementation agreeing exactly. BIP-90 is the single source of truth for this concern, so any new client built today can match the behaviour of every client built since 2016.
HOW_IT_WORKS
Mechanism
HOW IT WORKS
Mechanically, BIP-90 replaces version-bit deployment trackers with hard-coded enforcement heights. Because this is a soft fork, old software accepts new behaviour without modification — but new behaviour is rejected if old software produces it. Adoption today: tidied up after BIP-34/65/66/68/112/113 were universally adopted.
1. Author drafts BIP-90 against the BIP-2 template — abstract, motivation, specification, rationale.
2. The text + a reference implementation are posted on the bitcoin-dev list and as a PR to bitcoin/bips.
3. Reviewers tear it apart: ambiguities, security concerns, edge cases, interaction with prior BIPs.
4. Once stable, the BIP editor merges it; it gets a number (BIP-90) and the status "draft" or "proposed".
5. Implementations land in Bitcoin Core / wallets / other clients. For consensus changes: activation parameters chosen.
6. After deployment + adoption, BIP-90 is promoted to "final"; deprecated proposals get "replaced" or "withdrawn".
WORKED_EXAMPLE
BIP-90 — quick reference card
EXAMPLE
BIP number : 90
Title : Buried Deployments
Area : Consensus
First published: 2016
Status : final
Fork class : soft
Motivation : bury historical soft fork checks at a fixed block height to simplify Core code.
Mechanism : replaces version-bit deployment trackers with hard-coded enforcement heights.
Where it shows up : tidied up after BIP-34/65/66/68/112/113 were universally adopted.
Read the spec : https://github.com/bitcoin/bips/blob/master/bip-0090.mediawiki
KEY_PROPERTIES
OPT-IN
No authority can force a BIP on anyone. Adoption depends entirely on whether the change is genuinely useful.
NUMBERED
Stable numeric reference — BIP-90 means the same thing across every wallet, miner, and node that has read this spec.
CONSENSUS
BIP-90 is a soft fork — it changes (or proposes to change) the rules every full node enforces.
DEPLOYED
Implementations of BIP-90 are in production. The behaviour is observable on mainnet today.
COMMON_PITFALLS
Things that catch people out
PITFALLS
- BIP-90 is a soft fork — old clients accept new behaviour but don't enforce it. Validate against an upgraded node to be sure the rule is being checked.
- Don't confuse "draft" / "proposed" / "final" status — read the BIP header before relying on it in production.
- The BIP number is just an editorial counter — it doesn't imply correctness or stability. Always cross-reference with the latest bitcoin/bips repo.
RELATED_CONCEPTS
Other terms from Upgrades & BIPs — click any to read its page:
TERMINOLOGY_INDEX
TERMINOLOGY
BIP 90 (Buried Deployments)
Hard-coding old soft-fork activations into the client to remove versionbits checks.
Segregated Witness (SegWit, BIP 141)
The 2017 upgrade separating witness-data/">witness data, fixing tx malleability, and introducing weight units.
Taproot (BIP 341)
Tapscript (BIP 342)
Script-language updates accompanying Taproot — new opcodes, removed limits.
Schnorr (BIP 340)
The Schnorr signature spec adopted by Taproot.
BIP Process
The community workflow for proposing, discussing, and tracking changes to Bitcoin.
Soft Fork Activation
MASF (Miner-Activated Soft Fork)
Activation triggered by miner signaling in block versions.