The ECX hard fork has been changed to a three-phase launch, with the permanent version scheduled for release on October 31
ECX developer Paul Sztorc announced that the ECX hard fork will be launched in three phases, rather than the originally scheduled single release on August 23. ECX is a new blockchain that replicates the complete transaction history of Bitcoin at a specified block height. Almost all Bitcoin holders, except for Satoshi Nakamoto's portion of Bitcoin, will receive an equivalent amount of ECX, and the Bitcoin network itself will not change.The first Alpha version will be activated on August 23 at block height 963648, the Beta version will go live on September 20 at block height 967680, and the permanent complete version is scheduled for release on October 31 at block height 973728. Tokens collected during the Alpha and Beta phases can be destroyed and exchanged for official ECX once the permanent chain is launched. The replay protection for ECX remains an optional mechanism; the official wallet will enable this protection and remind users before executing transactions. Paul Sztorc stated that if users ignore the reminder, ECX will replay their Bitcoin transactions, causing the related Bitcoins to follow the user out and transfer to new holders; October 31 also marks the 18th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto's publication of the Bitcoin white paper.
