Simply put
- Paul Sztorc, the CEO of LayerTwo Labs, has put forth a proposal for a hard fork of Bitcoin, named eCash.
- This fork aims to replicate and “reallocate” coins believed to be linked to Bitcoin’s creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, and distribute them to investors in eCash.
- Historically, hard forks related to Bitcoin and Ethereum have not performed as well over the long run compared to the original versions.
Bitcoin developer Paul Sztorc has suggested a hard fork that would redistribute some of the earliest coins on the original blockchain—coins often thought to be owned by the pseudonymous Satoshi Nakamoto—to backers of a new initiative.
Sztorc, who co-founded LayerTwo Labs, recently introduced the eCash project. The idea involves “manually reallocating” roughly 500,000 bits, part of the estimated 1.1 million bitcoins associated with the so-called “Patoshi pattern,” which some experts think is connected to Nakamoto.
“This decision will surely spark debate,” Stork mentioned. “But I think it’s necessary and, to be honest, it’s probably the best approach.”
Since Sztorc cannot alter Satoshi’s coins on the Bitcoin blockchain, eCash will establish a separate blockchain that mirrors Bitcoin’s history while adjusting the ledger to assign nearly all but 600,000 of those coins to new participants. Those currently holding Bitcoin (BTC) will also receive equivalent eCash coins based on their holdings at the time of the fork.
Important: We have also devised a way for some people to “invest” in this hard fork before the August date.
– Satoshi has 1.1 million coins in the so-called “Patoshi” pattern.
– Today, we will manually reallocate a portion (less than half) of these coins to investors.this is…
— Paul Stork (@Truthcoin) April 24, 2026
“Coins are split. For instance, if you have 4.19 BTC, you will get 4.19 eCash. You can choose to sell the eCash, keep it, or, I guess, just not think about it,” he added on X.
This new fork draws its name from the original eCash project created by cryptographer David Chaum, which pioneered ideas for digital currency. The first eCash utilized encrypted signatures to enable secure electronic transactions, but the venture went bankrupt in 1998 due to insufficient adoption.
Jameson Ropp, Bitcoin developer and chief security officer at Casa, remarked, “It’s not Satoshi’s Bitcoin; it’s just presumed unspent outputs that have been copied and altered on a completely distinct network.”
Ropp also characterized the proposal as a move to gain media attention, referring to it as “smart anger marketing.”
As per Loop, such a reallocation would only be feasible within the Bitcoin framework if there’s a consensus among the broader developer community.
“In theory, if the entire Bitcoin ecosystem agrees to a hard fork that redistributes Satoshi’s coins to other holders, it could happen,” Ropp admitted.
Stork believes this redistribution will give early investors a chance to back the project prior to its anticipated August launch and emphasized its necessity to avoid the project stagnating without sufficient funding.
Bitcoin has undergone similar splits before. Bitcoin Cash emerged in 2017, driven by disputes over scaling and network development. Ethereum also split in 2016 after a hack, with most supporters reversing the stolen transactions, while Ethereum Classic maintained the original blockchain. Both Bitcoin Cash and Ethereum Classic carry considerably less value and market presence compared to their original counterparts.
According to eCash’s website, the new blockchain is set to launch in approximately 119 days, incorporating “Drivechain” scaling technology along with seven sidechains being developed.
Stork mentioned, “The advantages of global scalability, privacy, competition, fast advancements, and adoption are substantial. Arguably, it might be crucial for Bitcoin’s survival. The drawbacks seem limited because, in the end, Bitcoin users are getting free tokens.”
Stork did not respond immediately to requests for further comments.
