Developer Paul Sztorc has proposed a Bitcoin hard fork named eCash, set to occur at block height 964,000 in August 2026. The fork will distribute eCash on a 1:1 basis to BTC holders and introduce the Drivechains sidechain architecture. The proposal has sparked controversy due to plans to pre-allocate eCash tokens corresponding to Satoshi Nakamoto’s addresses to early investors. Critics have labeled this move as "stealing" tokens, while Sztorc argues it is intended to incentivize development and collaboration before the project's launch.