Episode notes
n August 2026, eCash (ECX) comes out in its alpha phase: leading up to a final complete rollout on October 31st 2026, Bitcoin's 18th birthday. To better explain how this process will take place and why every bitcoiner should try BIP300 this Halloween, Paul Sztorc joins the show for a record-breaking 11th time!
Time stamps:
00:01:17 – Welcome: Paul Sztorc for the 11th time, a new record
00:01:42 – Four months since the hard fork announcement
00:02:00 – The three phase rollout: alpha, beta, October 31st mainnet
00:02:25 – Why the launch was delayed: summer, Coldcard hack, BIP 110
00:03:04 – Practice runs: 1,000 test coins convert to 10 real eCash
00:03:55 – Alpha & beta as successors to the drivechain testnet
00:04:25 – How to claim: your Bitcoin private key & splitting transactions
00:04:42 – The fast facts GitHub repo & replay protection
00:05:07 – Why most people should not type in their main keys
00:05:27 – Mining or buying: the other ways to get eCash
00:06:04 – Mining the alpha with SHA-256D hardware
00:06:35 – The 1000:10 conversion threshold explained
00:06:51 – Why old hardware (S9s, Bitaxes) can be profitable again
00:07:17 – The launch difficulty debate: from "difficulty 1" to real data
00:08:14 – Alpha & beta as a glimpse of future price and hash rate
00:09:34 – The other fork's struggles vs planning ahead
00:10:03 – Call to action: withdraw from exchanges, accumulate BTC
00:10:24 – The network only recognizes one owner of the coin
00:10:46 – Self custody advice in a tough summer
00:11:24 – eCash vs BIP 110: honest hard fork vs 100% hash rate claims
00:12:13 – Name picking, PoW changes & the train wreck
00:13:00 – From 5 to 7 to 12 drivechains
00:13:30 – The giveaway announcement & the sponsors
00:16:07 – Thunder: scaling to 8 billion people
00:16:32 – zSide: Zcash Orchard privacy on a drivechain
00:16:48 – BitNames, BitAssets, prediction markets, CoinShift
00:17:17 – Two EVM flavors, an OP_CAT chain & a post-EVM science project
00:18:12 – Elements Plus: Blockstream's own tech, completed by the community
00:19:26 – "How many Lightning implementations at launch?" "Hopefully zero"
00:20:11 – Lightning is a dead project, the evidence is overwhelming
00:20:45 – The giveaway: Paul picks 10, the chat said 77
00:21:17 – Recap: three stages, more drivechains, October 31st
00:22:03 – Try the tech: maximizing what Bitcoin can do
00:22:53 – Rohit wins the prize & the shortest Sztorc interview ever
00:23:59 – The autumn of forks: BIP 110 delays, eCash extends to Halloween
00:24:23 – Bitcoin's 18th birthday on the metzdowd mailing list
00:24:49 – Why drivechains: all fees go to proof of work miners
00:25:38 – Hoping a Bitcoin competitor pushes Bitcoin forward
00:28:02 – Twelve drivechains you can test today
Time stamps:
00:01:17 – Welcome: Paul Sztorc for the 11th time, a new record
00:01:42 – Four months since the hard fork announcement
00:02:00 – The three phase rollout: alpha, beta, October 31st mainnet
00:02:25 – Why the launch was delayed: summer, Coldcard hack, BIP 110
00:03:04 – Practice runs: 1,000 test coins convert to 10 real eCash
00:03:55 – Alpha & beta as successors to the drivechain testnet
00:04:25 – How to claim: your Bitcoin private key & splitting transactions
00:04:42 – The fast facts GitHub repo & replay protection
00:05:07 – Why most people should not type in their main keys
00:05:27 – Mining or buying: the other ways to get eCash
00:06:04 – Mining the alpha with SHA-256D hardware
00:06:35 – The 1000:10 conversion threshold explained
00:06:51 – Why old hardware (S9s, Bitaxes) can be profitable again
00:07:17 – The launch difficulty debate: from "difficulty 1" to real data
00:08:14 – Alpha & beta as a glimpse of future price and hash rate
00:09:34 – The other fork's struggles vs planning ahead
00:10:03 – Call to action: withdraw from exchanges, accumulate BTC
00:10:24 – The network only recognizes one owner of the coin
00:10:46 – Self custody advice in a tough summer
00:11:24 – eCash vs BIP 110: honest hard fork vs 100% hash rate claims
00:12:13 – Name picking, PoW changes & the train wreck
00:13:00 – From 5 to 7 to 12 drivechains
00:13:30 – The giveaway announcement & the sponsors
00:16:07 – Thunder: scaling to 8 billion people
00:16:32 – zSide: Zcash Orchard privacy on a drivechain
00:16:48 – BitNames, BitAssets, prediction markets, CoinShift
00:17:17 – Two EVM flavors, an OP_CAT chain & a post-EVM science project
00:18:12 – Elements Plus: Blockstream's own tech, completed by the community
00:19:26 – "How many Lightning implementations at launch?" "Hopefully zero"
00:20:11 – Lightning is a dead project, the evidence is overwhelming
00:20:45 – The giveaway: Paul picks 10, the chat said 77
00:21:17 – Recap: three stages, more drivechains, October 31st
00:22:03 – Try the tech: maximizing what Bitcoin can do
00:22:53 – Rohit wins the prize & the shortest Sztorc interview ever
00:23:59 – The autumn of forks: BIP 110 delays, eCash extends to Halloween
00:24:23 – Bitcoin's 18th birthday on the metzdowd mailing list
00:24:49 – Why drivechains: all fees go to proof of work miners
00:25:38 – Hoping a Bitcoin competitor pushes Bitcoin forward
00:28:02 – Twelve drivechains you can test today
