{"id":71610,"date":"2026-04-25T12:53:50","date_gmt":"2026-04-25T12:53:50","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/drivechain-architect-paul-sztorc-unveils-august-bitcoin-hard-fork-with-11-btc-coin-split\/"},"modified":"2026-04-25T12:53:50","modified_gmt":"2026-04-25T12:53:50","slug":"drivechain-architect-paul-sztorc-unveils-august-bitcoin-hard-fork-with-11-btc-coin-split","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/drivechain-architect-paul-sztorc-unveils-august-bitcoin-hard-fork-with-11-btc-coin-split\/","title":{"rendered":"Drivechain Architect Paul Sztorc Unveils August Bitcoin Hard Fork With 1:1 BTC Coin Split"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><b>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News )<\/b><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p><strong>Key Takeaways:<\/strong><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Paul Sztorc announced eCash, a new <span>Bitcoin hard fork<\/span> dropping in August 2026, with a 1:1 <span>BTC<\/span> coin split for holders.<\/li>\n<li>The fork activates BIP300\/301 Drivechains, targeting 8 billion users across 7 <span>Layer 2<\/span> chains in development.<\/li>\n<li>Sztorc plans to freeze the client 30 days before the fork and run bug bounty contests through summer 2025.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2>Sztorc Announces eCash Hard Fork Four Months Out, Sets 30-Day Code Freeze Before August Launch<\/h2>\n<p>Sztorc broke the news in a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Truthcoin\/status\/2047639261453680838?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post<\/a> on X, writing: \u201cBREAKING: New <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Fork \u2014 I am helping create a new <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Hardfork \u2014 dropping this August, called \u2018eCash.&#8217;\u201d He confirmed the split will be 1:1, noting that a holder with 4.19 <span>BTC<\/span> will receive 4.19 eCash. Holders can sell, keep, or ignore the new coins entirely.<\/p>\n<p>The project draws a direct line from Sztorc\u2019s years of work on BIP300 and BIP301, the <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/running-drivenet-benefits-of-drivechain-versus-lightning-network\/\">Drivechain<\/a> proposals that have long <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/what-is-the-drivechain-proposal-and-why-is-it-dividing-the-bitcoin-community\/\">divided<\/a> the <span>Bitcoin<\/span> development community. On the eCash website at <a href=\"https:\/\/ecash.com\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">ecash.com<\/a>, the project describes itself as a permanent fix to <span>Bitcoin<\/span>\u2019s scalability and governance problems, not a stopgap measure.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"attachment_809246\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-809246\" style=\"width:2560px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><figcaption id=\"caption-attachment-809246\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Sztorc\u2019s eCash is set to drop in 118 days.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The layer one (L1) <span>node<\/span> is described as a near-copy of <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Core, using SHA-256d mining. The chain will fork by resetting mining difficulty to its minimum value, which Sztorc acknowledged will cause chaotic conditions at launch. The development team plans to change seed <span>nodes<\/span>, the network name, and the network magic while continuing to merge changes from <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Core going forward.<\/p>\n<p>BIP300 and BIP301 will activate through CUSF, the \u201ccore untouched soft fork\u201d mechanism, meaning no lines of code on the L1 will be modified. The activation client will be published periodically and frozen 30 days before the scheduled fork date. Several bug bounty contests are planned for the summer ahead of launch.<\/p>\n<p>The fork will replay all transactions at the time of the split, and the team will release a coin-splitter tool. Sztorc wrote that users are receiving four months of advance notice, contrasting this directly with the 2017 <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Cash hard fork where warnings were shorter and the process drew significant criticism.<\/p>\n<p>Sztorc\u2019s post listed seven layer two ( <span>L2<\/span>) chains currently in development, all merged-mined, so miners automatically earn additional revenue. Those chains include Truthcoin for <span>prediction markets<\/span>, Coinshift as a <span>decentralized exchange<\/span> ( <span>DEX<\/span>), Bitassets for <span>NFTs<\/span> and similar instruments, Bitnames for identity solutions, and Photon, which is designed to be quantum-resistant. A privacy-focused <span>L2<\/span> modeled after Zcash is also included.<\/p>\n<p>In an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/live\/1DXWOMsbu-Q?si=93Dtbw3CFzH5ExHz\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">interview<\/a> with Vlad Costea, Sztorc explained that the Drivechain model is specifically designed to prevent what he calls \u201cdev capture,\u201d the tendency for a single development team or set of financial backers to gain outsized control over a protocol\u2019s direction. Competing <span>L2<\/span> chains running under the same merged mining umbrella allow the market to decide which applications gain traction without any single group holding veto power.<\/p>\n<p>The ecash.com website states the <span>L2<\/span> infrastructure is already capable of onboarding 8 billion users at a planetary scale, a claim the team attributes to the merged mining architecture and the ability for independent developers to deploy their own Drivechain-based <span>sidechains<\/span>.<\/p>\n<p>Sztorc drew a direct comparison to <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Cash ( <span>BCH<\/span>) in his announcement, emphasizing that eCash drops the word \u201c <span>Bitcoin<\/span>\u201d from the name entirely. He argued that a clean brand separation, along with a longer advance notice window and a permanent technical fix, distinguishes this fork from prior attempts.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cBack in 2017, the <span>BTC<\/span> tech stack was strong, and expectations for Lightning were strong,\u201d he wrote. \u201cToday, it is the reverse.\u201d<\/p>\n<h2>Community Opinion and Feedback<\/h2>\n<p>Naturally, the <span>crypto<\/span> community split along familiar lines when Paul Sztorc introduced his proposal to fork the network. One point of contention revolves around his chosen name, as \u201ceCash\u201d is already associated with an <span>altcoin<\/span> network that emerged from the <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Cash split via <span>Bitcoin<\/span> ABC. The eCash <span>blockchain<\/span> community, led by chief developer <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/deadalnix\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Amaury S\u00e9chet<\/a>, has expressed clear dissatisfaction with Sztorc\u2019s decision. Sztorc, however, responded to the criticism in a post on X and during a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/TheDesertLynx\/status\/2047752677401264528?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">conversation<\/a> with Joel Valenzuela.<\/p>\n<p>On X, Sztorc <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/Truthcoin\/status\/2047653557961121990?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">argued<\/a>, \u201cThe name \u2018eCash\u2019 is generic. I\u2019m aware it has been used for several things, including: \u2013 Chaumian eCash , a predecessor idea to <span>Bitcoin<\/span> from the 80s\/90s \u2014 later realized with his company DigiCash. \u2013 The \u2018XEC\u2019 <span>Altcoin<\/span>, which is currently ranked #164. \u2013 A private-but-custodial <span>Bitcoin<\/span> project, also called \u2018cashu.\u2019 We were able to get ecash.com \u2014 as well as several other related domains \u2014 so we are comfortable with the eCash name.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Others took issue with Sztorc\u2019s decision to fork <span>Bitcoin<\/span> itself. The software developer known as <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/callebtc\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Calle<\/a> contends that BIP300 drivechains, as proposed by Paul Sztorc, are fundamentally flawed, arguing they grant miners excessive authority and could enable a hashpower majority to misappropriate funds. In a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/callebtc\/status\/2047831467976245553?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">post on X<\/a>, Calle maintains the concept has been broadly dismissed by the <span>Bitcoin<\/span> community, yet its creator continues to push forward, criticize the <span>Lightning Network<\/span>, and repackage the idea in increasingly strained ways.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe only solution left is to create a sh**coin for his sh***y idea,\u201d Calle claimed.<\/p>\n<p>Author and <span>Bitcoin<\/span> advocate, Steve Patterson, expressed optimism. \u201cThere are only a couple serious options for scaling <span>Bitcoin<\/span>: big blocks (as Satoshi intended), or real <span>sidechains<\/span>,\u201d Patterson <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/steveinpursuit\/status\/2047677413073580110?s=20\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">wrote on X<\/a>. \u201cSo naturally, Core prevented both from being adopted. Big blockers forked off years ago, and now [Paul Sztorc] is finally forking off to implement <span>sidechains<\/span>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>A Grok-powered <a href=\"https:\/\/grok.com\/share\/c2hhcmQtMw_dde6a0de-3bca-471c-a485-1865f2b32c11?rid=07a9d00d-db63-4d8d-918a-ac5f4118121d\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">sentiment scan<\/a> of Sztorc\u2019s post on X showed replies leaning sharply against the project. From roughly 50 to 60 top-level responses within a total of 347, about 80% to 85% were negative, Grok reported. Critics pointed to confusion with the existing eCash token, a fork of <span>Bitcoin<\/span> Cash, and objected to a proposed partial reallocation of Satoshi-era coins, which some framed as \u201cstealing\u201d dormant funds.<\/p>\n<p>A smaller but vocal segment rejected the effort outright as a scam or developer self-interest. About 10% to 15% expressed support, citing the potential coin distribution for <span>Bitcoin<\/span> holders, interest in the Drivechain concept, or Sztorc\u2019s measured tone. The rest raised technical questions or responded with sarcasm rather than engaging directly.<\/p>\n<h2>A Stress Test Is Coming in 118 Days<\/h2>\n<p>The announcement signals a coming stress test for the <span>bitcoin mining<\/span> community, since the difficulty reset at fork time will temporarily make eCash far easier to mine than <a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/price\/bitcoin\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bitcoin<\/a>. <a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/public-miners-sell-record-bitcoin-as-industry-splits-between-selling-and-quality-growth\/\">Miners<\/a> capable of shifting <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-bitcoin-hashrate\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">hashrate<\/a> quickly will likely accumulate a large share of early block rewards before difficulty adjusts.<\/p>\n<p>Sztorc confirmed he will attend a <a href=\"https:\/\/www.binance.com\/en\/price\/bitcoin\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Bitcoin<\/a> conference in Las Vegas the week of the announcement, but said he would not discuss the fork onstage, calling it rude to make that kind of announcement in that setting.<\/p>\n<p>The activation client link has been published for developers and <a href=\"http:\/\/www.bitcoin.com\/get-started\/what-is-a-bitcoin-node\/\" class=\"lar_link lar_link_outgoing\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">node<\/a> operators who want to begin testing ahead of the summer bug bounty program and the 30-day code freeze that will precede the August launch.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/news.bitcoin.com\/drivechain-architect-paul-sztorc-unveils-august-bitcoin-hard-fork-with-11-btc-coin-split\/\">Source link <\/a><br \/>\n<br \/><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>(Originally posted on : Bitcoin News ) Key Takeaways: Paul Sztorc announced eCash, a new Bitcoin hard fork dropping in August 2026, with a 1:1 BTC coin split for holders. The fork activates BIP300\/301 Drivechains, targeting 8 billion users across 7 Layer 2 chains in development. Sztorc plans to freeze the client 30 days before [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":71611,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71610"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=71610"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/71610\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/71611"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=71610"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=71610"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/crowdfundjunction.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=71610"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}