🚨 Breaking News 📣 Bitcoin is about to face one of its biggest fork events in years.

Paul Sztorc, founder of LayerTwo Labs, creator of Bitcoin Hivemind, and author of BIP 300/301, has shaken the crypto spehere with the announcement of a new Bitcoin hard fork called eCash.

After years advocating for Drivechain implementation through a Bitcoin soft fork, Sztorc is now launching eCash as a separate Bitcoin-derived chain that brings BIP 300/301 directly to a Bitcoin Core-aligned network, shaped by his critique of Bitcoin’s long-standing “derangements”.

eCash keeps its Layer 1 nearly identical to Bitcoin while enabling Drivechains, a model where separate sidechains can handle different functions such as scalability, privacy, decentralized exchanges, prediction markets, identity systems, NFTs, and smart contract environments.

Unlike Bitcoin Cash, the Bitcoin fork that simply increased the block-size limit to 8 MB, eCash aims for a permanent and sustainable approach, a view echoed by prominent Bitcoin figures like Adam Back, who has described Drivechains as “pretty cool” and more important than Taproot.

A practical example already exists with EthSide, an Ethereum Drivechain designed to bring smart contract functionality to the Bitcoin environment while using $BTC as the native gas asset.

🪂 The eCash Bitcoin Hard Fork: Airdrop, Mining, and Controversy

Sztorc originally planned a single August 23 launch, but it will now roll out in three stages:

• Alpha: August 23, 2026 — block 963,648

• Beta: September 20, 2026 — block 967,680

• Full launch: October 31, 2026 — block 973,728

Coins collected during Alpha and Beta can later be burned and redeemed for permanent ECX after the full launch. October 31 also marks the 18th anniversary of the Bitcoin white paper.

When ECX forks from Bitcoin, it copies Bitcoin’s full transaction history and nearly every $BTC holder is credited with an equal amount of ECX, with a portion of Satoshi Nakamoto’s coins excluded. There are no tasks, registrations, or deposits required: hold $BTC in self-custody to retain access to the corresponding ECX, while Bitcoin itself and your $BTC remain unaffected.

On the mining side, eCash will use SHA-256d, the same POW mining algorithm as Bitcoin. The network is expected to begin with a one-time difficulty reset to the minimum level, making early blocks easier to mine before difficulty adjusts and the chain finds a more stable rhythm.

📌 Important: It is also worth knowing that the launch comes with a major controversy since eCash plans to manually reassign fewer than half of Satoshi Nakamoto’s “Patoshi” coins to accredited investors before the fork, a decision Sztorc has justified as a way to fund development, involve collaborators early, and avoid launching eCash as a “zombie project”.