ECX Hard Fork Delayed to Three-Phase Launch, Final Version Scheduled for October 31

Huo Xing Cai Jing reports that ECX developer Paul Sztorc has announced that the ECX hard fork will be rolled out in three phases, rather than as a single release on August 23. ECX is a new blockchain that replicates the complete transaction history of Bitcoin up to a specified block height; nearly all Bitcoin holders, except those owned by Satoshi Nakamoto, will receive an equal amount of ECX, while the Bitcoin network itself remains unchanged. The first Alpha version will activate at block height 963648 on August 23, the Beta version will launch at block height 967680 on September 20, and the permanent full version will be released at block height 973728 on October 31. Tokens collected during the Alpha and Beta phases can be destroyed and exchanged for official ECX once the permanent chain goes live. Replay protection for ECX remains an optional mechanism; the official wallet will enable this protection and alert users before executing transactions. Paul Sztorc stated that if users ignore the alert, ECX will replay their Bitcoin transactions, causing the associated Bitcoin to follow the user’s transfer and move to the new holder. October 31 also marks the 18th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto’s release of the Bitcoin whitepaper.