eCash Fork Targets Satoshi's Dormant Coins Worth $40 Billion

Paul Sztorc's eCash hard fork is set to launch in August 2026, aiming to reassign around 500,000 dormant Bitcoin (BTC) coins linked to Satoshi Nakamoto. Every Bitcoin holder will receive eCash tokens on a 1:1 basis at the snapshot.

The funding model has sparked controversy, with Sztorc planning to manually reassign fewer than half of the 1.1 million coins tied to the so-called Patoshi pattern, leaving 600,000 untouched on the forked chain. The reassigned coins, worth nearly $40 billion at current prices, would go to early investors before the fork goes live.

Critics have accused Sztorc of 'theft and disrespect,' citing that this marks the first Bitcoin fork attempt to alter Satoshi's holdings. Peter McCormack called the move 'unacceptable' and warned that it sets a bad precedent for future forks. Josh Ellithorpe, chief technology officer at Pixelated Ink, echoed concerns that this could expand to targeting other dormant wallets.

Sztorc maintains that no actual Bitcoin is touched, since holders need BTC software and private keys to move BTC. The eCash fork will activate at Bitcoin block 964,000 and run on SHA-256d mining.