eCash (ECX) is a hard fork of Bitcoin. Every BTC holder gets ECX 1:1, and the new chain turns on drivechains, the sidechain upgrade Bitcoin never adopted. $ECC is the meme that points at it.
eCash (ticker ECX) is a Bitcoin hard fork led by Paul Sztorc, who proposed drivechains, and his company LayerTwo Labs. At the mainnet block, the new chain starts from a fresh snapshot of Bitcoin. Every address holding BTC also holds the same amount of ECX. From there the two chains go their separate ways.
Nothing happens to your bitcoin. BTC stays on Bitcoin, under Bitcoin's rules and your Bitcoin keys. The fork adds a second ledger next to it.
There's no claim form and no registration. ecash.com says every BTC address is credited at mainnet. You'll still need wallet access and replay protection to move ECX safely.
The base layer looks like Bitcoin: SHA-256 proof-of-work, 10-minute blocks and a 21M cap. The big change is what's attached to it: drivechains, switched on from day one.
It's been rehearsed twice. Alpha and beta test chains ran in August and September so miners, exchanges and wallets could practise the split with worthless coins.
Every BTC address at the snapshot gets the same amount of ECX.
Around 31 October 2026, Bitcoin's 18th birthday.
Payments, privacy, names, assets, markets, swaps and quantum-safe vaults.
Since 2015, Paul Sztorc has argued that Bitcoin should add drivechains: sidechains that let people try new features without touching Bitcoin's main chain. Bitcoin Core never merged them. BIP-300 is still a draft, and Bitcoin hasn't had a soft fork since Taproot in 2021.
The last attempt to avoid a fork was CUSF, a "Core Untouched Soft Fork" in which miners would run a small enforcer next to unmodified Bitcoin Core. Miners didn't run it.
eCash ends the debate by trying it. Bitcoin gets a live, real-money test of drivechains without changing a line of Bitcoin. If sidechains for scaling, privacy and new features work on eCash, Bitcoin can see the results. If they don't, Bitcoin hasn't risked anything.
You don't have to pick a side to watch. Every BTC holder gets ECX automatically, so most Bitcoin holders have a stake in the outcome.
Sztorc publishes the drivechain idea: sidechains secured by Bitcoin miners.
Hashrate escrows and blind merged mining are written up as Bitcoin Improvement Proposals. Neither is activated.
The plan for miners to run an enforcer beside unmodified Bitcoin Core doesn't get the hashrate it needs.
Hard fork announced: 1 BTC = 1 ECX, with drivechains built in.
First rehearsal fork from Bitcoin block ~963,648. The coins have no real value.
Second rehearsal at ~967,680, aimed at exchanges, miners, wallets and custodians.
Permanent chain from a fresh Bitcoin snapshot at ~973,728. ECX is credited 1:1.
A drivechain is a separate blockchain pegged to the main chain. You move coins in, use whatever the sidechain offers (bigger blocks, privacy, tokens), then move them back out. The main chain stays simple, and new ideas run on sidechains you can choose to use.
BIP-300 handles the peg: how coins get in and out.
BIP-301 handles security: who produces sidechain blocks and why miners care.
Hover a card. Each runs on its own chain.
Big, prunable blocks for cheap, high-volume payments.
Shielded transactions, for spending you'd rather not broadcast.
Human-readable names and identity without a registrar.
Issue and trade tokens, stablecoins and NFTs, with fees in ECX.
Hivemind markets with oracle resolution from the market's own participants, not a central party.
Swap between eCash and other coins without a custodian.
Quantum-resistant signatures and vaults for long-term storage.
New sidechains can be added without changing the main chain's rules.
Whitepapers don't go viral. Cats do. eCash Cat exists to put eCash in front of people who would never read a BIP.
The cat, a messenger for eCashDrivechains are a ten-year-old idea most of crypto has never heard of. A meme gets read where a mailing-list thread doesn't.
$ECC is priced in wbECX, not SOL or USDC. To buy the cat, you route through an ECX-named asset first.
Memecoin traders live on Solana. The cat meets them there and points them back to Bitcoin's newest fork.
The cat's job is to bring people to the explainer above. If you leave knowing what BIP-300 does, the cat did its job.
About 1.1M early "Patoshi-pattern" BTC are widely attributed to Satoshi. On the eCash ledger only, roughly half a million of those coins are being reassigned to fund the launch (reports range from about 500k to 550k). Critics call it theft. Sztorc calls it the only way to fund the project without an ICO. Make up your own mind.
No legitimate tool needs your seed phrase. Expect phishing pages offering to "claim your ECX". Wait for widely reviewed wallets and read the replay-protection notes before moving coins on either chain.
Not every exchange or custodian will credit ECX. BlackRock's IBIT prospectus, for example, says the trust will give up forked assets. If you want ECX, check whether your platform supports it.
$ECC trades on a Meteora bonding curve against wbECX. When the curve fills, it graduates to a full liquidity pool with the LP locked.
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Mint authority is revoked, so no new $ECC can be created.
Revoked. No one can freeze your $ECC.
Taken in wbECX on each trade along the curve: 0.5% to Meteora, 1% reflected to $ECC holders in wbECX, and 1% to the launch wallet.
The curve migrates to a Meteora pool when this much wbECX is raised.
Liquidity from graduation is locked.
1% of every $ECC trade is paid to $ECC holders in wbECX, pro-rata to their balance.
$ECC is priced in wbECX. Jupiter can route SOL or USDC through wbECX for you.
Use the wbECX → ECC route. Swap from SOL directly, or pick up wbECX first.
Before you swap, confirm the mint is 4zwQ…Z3eQ. Copycat tokens exist.