Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc announced a new hard fork of Bitcoin called eCash, which is scheduled to be deployed in August.
The proposed fork will create a new layer-1 blockchain with seven layer-2 “drivechains,” designed to improve transaction throughput and introduce optional onchain privacy features.
Bitcoin holders will be able to exchange their BTC for eCash at a 1:1 ratio once the fork goes live, Sztorc said.
“Unlike BCH, the 2017 fork, there is no ‘Bitcoin’ in the name,”
Said Paul Sztorc.
The eCash chain will run on a near-copy of Bitcoin Core software using the same SHA-256 hashing algorithm, but with reduced mining difficulty to encourage early participation.
Sztorc said the fork would also “manually” reassign a portion of Satoshi Nakamoto’s estimated 1.1 million BTC holdings to early investors, a move that drew criticism from parts of the Bitcoin community.
The proposal has triggered debate over Bitcoin’s future, with some advocates questioning its viability and others pointing to ongoing concerns around scaling, privacy, and the performance of the Lightning Network.
At the time of reporting, Bitcoin price was $77,388.45.
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