Last updated: 2026-09-22, during the betanet stage.
eCash rolls out in three stages, each a fresh fork of Bitcoin mainnet: alphanet (forked 2026-08-23, retired 2026-09-24), betanet (live since 2026-09-19, fork block 967,680), and mainnet (fork block ~973,728, ~2026-10-31).
| Asset | eCash, ticker ECX |
| What it is | Hard fork of Bitcoin by LayerTwo Labs, activating drivechains (BIP300/301). Every BTC address is credited ECX 1:1 at the fork block; BTC itself is untouched |
| Fork points | betanet 967,680 (2026-09-19, live, hash 00000000000000030101ba5cfea54b22becc79f95dc6040beb76e01dd9d04042), mainnet ~973,728 (~2026-10-31, ~15:00 UTC); alphanet 963,648 (2026-08-23, retired 2026-09-24) |
| Consensus | SHA-256d PoW, one-time difficulty reset at the fork (betanet: to ~1e9), then normal 2,016-block retargeting |
| Node software | Fork of Bitcoin Core v31.1: github.com/ecash-com/bitcoin; binaries at releases.ecash.com (mirror: releases.drivechain.info) |
| Address/key formats | Identical to Bitcoin (1.../3.../bc1..., same WIF/xpub/xprv, secp256k1) |
| Network identity | Own network magic per stage (betanet 0xeca5b104, alphanet 0xeca5a104) and ports 8533/8532, so nodes can't cross-connect with Bitcoin Core; getblockchaininfo still reports chain=main (details) |
| Replay protection | Opt-in: set nLockTime = 499999999 on eCash transactions (details) |
| Consensus quirk | Whitelisted "repurpose" transactions reassign Satoshi-era (Patoshi) coins without signatures (232 txids on betanet) |
| Mining | SHA-256d, any Bitcoin miner works. Public pool stratum+tcp://stratum.beta.bip300.xyz:3334 (PPLNS paid in the coinbase, 1% fee; details) |
| Sidechains | 7 LayerTwo Labs L2s (Thunder, zSide, BitNames, BitAssets, Truthcoin, Photon, CoinShift) plus community proposals; betanet activated FreeBank (slot 130) at height 969,029 |
| Live network | betanet: DNS seeds seed.beta.ecash.ninja etc. (port 8533), hub, explorer, Esplora API, Electrum ssl://explorer.beta.ecash.ninja:50002 |
| Dev contact | dev@layertwolabs.com, t.me/DcInsiders |
- Full Node Setup
- Wallets, Keys & Addresses
- Replay & Coin Splitting (read first)
- Explorers & APIs
- Sidechains & L2s (includes proposing new L2s)
- Contacts & Resources
- FAQ
- Mining / Mining Pool
- Run a node against betanet now (
betanetbranch; alphanet is retired 2026-09-24), and move to the mainnet branch with a fresh datadir when announced. Dedicated datadir per stage, verify the fork-block hash. - Reuse your Bitcoin pipeline (RPC, ZMQ, descriptors, electrs/mempool.space) pointed at the eCash node. Key balances by
(chain, address). - Fork week: freeze withdrawals at the fork block, split coins (eCash side first,
nLockTime = 499999999), resume with deep confirmation requirements while difficulty re-equilibrates. - Set the magic nLockTime on every ECX withdrawal, permanently.
- Decide your crediting policy for customer BTC held at the mainnet fork block; prepare comms about ECX and the Satoshi-coin reassignment.
- ecash.com, official site, stage dates and heights, FAQ
- github.com/ecash-com/bitcoin (branch READMEs carry each stage's parameters), github.com/LayerTwo-Labs
- beta.ecash.ninja, betanet hub (L1 tip, sidechain status); explorer.beta.ecash.ninja, live betanet explorer
- pool.drivechain.info, mining pool registry
- BIP300, BIP301
Feedback Appreciated!