eCash

🚨 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

The eCash hard fork is scheduled for August 2026 ⏳

When the fork happens, Bitcoin holders will have their BTC balances copied to the new chain on a 1:1 basis, meaning holding 1 $BTC would give access to 1 eCash on the eCash network. The fork creates a separate network with the same balances, while your $BTC remains untouched.

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”.