Paul Sztorc Proposes August 2026 eCash Hard Fork With 1:1 BTC Coin Split

Long-time Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc has proposed a Bitcoin hard fork called eCash, with the plan to “drop[] this August” and to create a new chain that gives existing BTC holders equivalent tokens.

“A long-time developer wants to split Bitcoin blockchain and reassign Satoshi coins”

@coindesk

CoinDesk reports that Sztorc’s proposal would “copy[] Bitcoin’s code to launch a separate version in August,” while also giving “existing bitcoin holders equivalent tokens in the new network for free.”

@coindesk

In Sztorc’s own words on X, CoinDesk quotes him saying, “Hold 4.19 BTC at the time of the fork, get 4.19 eCash. You can sell it, keep it, or ignore it entirely.”

The fork is described as being scheduled for “Bitcoin block height 964,000 in August 2026,” and CoinDesk says “a coin-splitter tool will be released to help holders cleanly separate their BTC from their new eCash.”

The Unchained Podcast excerpt similarly states that “Every BTC holder at the time of the fork would automatically receive an equal amount of eCash on the new chain,” and it places the launch “in August at block height 964,000.”

Other outlets add operational details: Bitcoin News says Sztorc plans to “freeze the client 30 days before the fork” and to “run bug bounty contests through summer 2025,” while also describing a “1:1 BTC coin split” for holders.

Across the coverage, the core technical framing is that eCash would be “a near-copy of Bitcoin’s existing blockchain” with an added scaling architecture called Drivechains, which CoinDesk describes as “sidechains tethered to the Bitcoin blockchain.”

The eCash proposal is built around Drivechains, a sidechain concept Sztorc has worked on since 2015 and that CoinDesk says was “formally submitted to Bitcoin developers as BIP300 and BIP301 in 2017 and 2019, respectively.”

CoinDesk describes Drivechains as “sidechains tethered to the Bitcoin blockchain, allowing seamless movement of BTC between the main chain and sidechains without changing Bitcoin's base layer,” and it adds that “Each sidechain can operate under its own rules and features.”

Bitcoin News

To explain how that would work in practice, CoinDesk uses a highway analogy, saying “Think of Drivechains as service roads attached to the main highway,” where “When the highway is congested, drivers can exit the highway and travel on the service road at different speed limits.”

The Unchained Podcast excerpt similarly says the new chain would run on “a near-copy of Bitcoin Core software using the same SHA-256 hashing algorithm,” while also using “a reduced initial mining difficulty” and “seven layer-2 scaling networks called Drivechains.”

CoinDesk also lists “Seven Drivechains” already in development, including “a privacy chain modelled on Zcash,” “a prediction market called Truthcoin,” “a decentralised exchange called CoinShift,” and “a quantum-resistant chain called Photon.”

Bitcoin News adds more specifics about how eCash would handle activation and replay: it says “BIP300 and BIP301 will activate through CUSF, the ‘core untouched soft fork’ mechanism, meaning no lines of code on the L1 will be modified.”

It also states that “The fork will replay all transactions at the time of the split,” and it says the team will “release a coin-splitter tool.”

In addition, Bitcoin News says the development team plans to “change seed nodes, the network name, and the network magic while continuing to merge changes from Bitcoin Core going forward,” and it describes the chain as using “SHA-256d mining.”

The most explosive element of the eCash plan is the proposed reallocation of coins attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto, which multiple outlets describe as controversial and framed by critics as theft.

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CoinDesk says the controversial part involves “reassigning coins linked to Bitcoin’s missing founder, Satoshi Nakamoto,” and it describes community criticism that calls the funding “outright theft.”

It also states that “A potential hard fork would bring Bitcoin’s entire transaction history to the new chain,” meaning “every bitcoin balance, including Satoshi’s 1.1 million bitcoin,” would show up as an equivalent eCash balance.

CoinDesk further reports that “As per the plan, fewer than half of the Satoshi-equivalent eCash coins will be assigned to investors today,” while also noting that “The precise mechanism of how it's being done remains unclear.”

Unchained Podcast provides a similar outline but adds a specific estimate and valuation: it says Sztorc intends to manually reassign “fewer than half” of Satoshi Nakamoto’s “estimated 1.1 million BTC, worth nearly $40 billion at current prices,” to investors before the fork goes live.

In that same excerpt, Peter McCormack is quoted calling the proposal “theft and disrespectful,” and critic “PakoVM” predicts the project would “collapse within two or three years.”

Another named critic, Josh Ellithorpe, chief technology officer at Pixelated Ink, is quoted saying the move shows the team “can and will steal coins,” adding “now it’s Satoshi, but it could be anyone later.”

The Crypto Times adds its own framing and numbers, saying the plan would reassign “up to half of the roughly 1.1 million BTC” attributed to Satoshi Nakamoto’s “Patoshi-pattern” wallets, and it describes critics labeling it “theft” and a “dangerous precedent.”

The debate around eCash includes both direct criticism and counter-arguments about incentives and governance, with multiple named voices weighing in.

CoinDesk says Sztorc frames the reallocation as necessary, arguing that “the plan is to ensure collaborators have a tangible incentive to get involved early, building momentum and completing work ahead of launch,” and it warns that without such a mechanism “the project can turn into a

The Crypto Times

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