eCash Tokens to Be Distributed to Bitcoin Holders via Hard Fork in August 2026

A major development is expected to take place in the Bitcoin ecosystem starting August 2026. A new cryptocurrency called eCash (ECX) will be distributed to Bitcoin holders through a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain, scheduled for around August 23, 2026.

The hard fork will proceed in three stages: alpha, beta, and mainnet release. Initially, practice tokens will be issued for testing purposes. The final mainnet launch is expected near October 31, 2026.

According to the project's developers at LayerTwo Labs, eCash balances will be assigned one-to-one with Bitcoin holdings at the time of the mainnet launch, without affecting Bitcoin itself. This new cryptocurrency aims to enable sidechains for enhanced features while preserving Bitcoin's core rules.