Bitcoin Developer's Plan to Create New Blockchain and Redistribute Satoshi's Coins Sparks Outrage

Veteran Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc has been attempting to revamp the cryptocurrency's architecture since 2015, but his efforts have been met with resistance from the broader community. In response, Sztorc has proposed a radical solution: a hard fork called eCash, which would create a separate version of the Bitcoin blockchain in August 2026, providing existing bitcoin holders with equivalent tokens on the new network at no cost. However, the community is criticizing the plan's funding aspect, which involves reassigning coins linked to Bitcoin's elusive founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. A hard fork can be thought of as a divergence in a railway line, where two separate paths emerge from a common starting point. When developers cannot agree on changes to Bitcoin's code, they create a copy of the existing blockchain and launch it as a separate chain, sharing Bitcoin's history up to the point of the split but diverging thereafter with its own rules, features, and token. This is similar to the 2017 chain split that resulted in the creation of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain and its native token, BCH. Sztorc's eCash hard fork will create a new chain with native eCash tokens, where holders of 4.19 BTC at the time of the fork will receive 4.19 eCash, which they can sell, keep, or ignore. The fork is scheduled for August 2026, and a coin-splitter tool will be released to help holders separate their BTC from their new eCash. The new chain will be a near-copy of Bitcoin's existing blockchain, with the addition of Drivechains, a scaling architecture proposed by Sztorc in 2015. Drivechains are sidechains tethered to the Bitcoin blockchain, allowing seamless movement of BTC between the main chain and sidechains without altering Bitcoin's base layer. Each sidechain can operate under its own rules and features, enabling developers to build new capabilities on top of Bitcoin without requiring the entire network to adopt those changes. Seven Drivechains are already in development, including a privacy chain modeled on Zcash, a prediction market, a decentralized exchange, and a quantum-resistant chain. The contentious aspect of the plan involves using coins that would have gone to Satoshi Nakamoto's equivalent addresses on the new eCash chain to attract investors before the fork goes live. This decision has sparked outrage in the community, with some labeling it outright theft. The proposed hard fork would bring Bitcoin's entire transaction history to the new chain, resulting in every bitcoin balance, including Satoshi's 1.1 million bitcoin, being reflected as an equivalent eCash balance on the new chain. Sztorc plans to assign fewer than half of the Satoshi-equivalent eCash coins to investors, although the precise mechanism remains unclear. The plan aims to provide collaborators with a tangible incentive to get involved early, building momentum and completing work ahead of launch. However, the industry response has been overwhelmingly negative, with critics arguing that taking Satoshi coins is theft and disrespectful. Others have expressed concerns about the precedent it sets and the potential risks to everyone's BTC holdings.