Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc has been proposing radical innovations in the Bitcoin infrastructure since 2015, but the community has not been receptive to these suggestions to date. Now, Sztorc attracts attention with its plan to launch a new chain called “eCash hard fork”. Sztorc’s new proposal aims to copy the Bitcoin code and launch a completely separate version of it, and to give existing Bitcoin holders free eCash tokens, which are the exact equivalent in this new network.
Community reacts to Satoshi’s money issue
The most controversial point in Sztorc’s plan is the use of coins in the addresses belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, the mysterious founder of Bitcoin, in the new chain. The plan envisages distributing these assets to encourage investors. But many community members argue that this step violates property ownership.
In his statement on the subject, Sztorc argues that part of the system is necessary to encourage collaborators in the initial phase of the project. It was stated that more than half of the assets in question have not been allocated to investors so far, and the remaining part will be distributed only after the chain is separated. However, the technical details of this allocation process currently remain unclear.
Bitcoin advocate Peter McCormack was also among the objections, saying, “Buying Satoshi’s coins is both wrong and disrespectful, and the eCash name is currently used in Lightning payments. These are wrong choices.”
Drivechains: New scalability structure added to the chain
The new eCash chain will be an exact copy of Bitcoin’s existing blockchain; The main difference between them is the integration of a feature called Drivechains, which Sztorc first introduced in 2015 and turned into official proposals in 2017 and 2019. Drivechains add side chains to the Bitcoin network, allowing users to leave the main chain and make new transactions with different rules. This solution can enable both scaling of the network and testing of new features.
In other words, side roads will be opened without making any changes to the main chain. In this way, the current order will be preserved and innovation space will be provided to developers.
Forking history and upcoming eCash launch
Chain splitting (hard fork) is not a new phenomenon in the cryptocurrency world. A similar process took place during the block size discussions in 2017, and Bitcoin Cash eventually emerged. At that time, Bitcoin’s block size was limited to 1MB and disagreements about removing this limit caused the existing chain to split into two. The new fork that came to the fore today is expected to create a different chain that will host its own token called eCash.
According to Sztorc’s statement, the fork will occur in August 2026, at the 964,000th block of the Bitcoin chain. A user who has held 4.19 BTC up to that point will also have the same amount of eCash. A special tool will also be available for users to openly separate their existing BTC and new eCash tokens.
Josh Ellithorpe emphasized technical and ethical debates, saying, “eCash paves the way for other people’s coins to be seized in the future. It’s Satoshi’s now, but it could be someone else’s tomorrow. It also misrepresents the BCH fork and there are issues with naming rights.”
After all these developments, the mood within the community is not yet clear; It seems that critical approaches and ethical discussions will shape the fate of the new chain.
