The latest Bitcoin fork has begun its alpha phase: the ECX network, created by Paul Sztorc, the developer of Drivechain, launched at block height 963,648. As of 9 a.m. on Sunday, August 23rd, the new network had already processed over 25,000 blocks in just 13 hours. The intervals between blocks were incredibly short, as the network's difficulty started at 1—exactly like Bitcoin did at its launch in 2009.
As of 9 a.m. Eastern Time (EDT), after a series of difficulty adjustments every 2,016 blocks, ECX's difficulty soared to 16.78 million. According to current data, miners are processing 3.53 petahashes per second (PH/s) on the ECX chain. If every miner used the original Bitmain Antminer S19 model (not Pro), which provides 95 terahashes per second (TH/s), this would correspond to nearly 36 Antminer S19 units working on Sztorc's fork.
But miners can obviously deploy almost any old Antminer, including the vintage S9, along with brands like Sealminers, Whatsminers, Bitaxes, Nerdaxes, or even the weakest hash-rate machines, to earn Alpha rewards. What immediately distinguishes this fork from the failed BIP-110 fiasco earlier this month is mining support. ECX is clearly attracting more miners willing to support the chain with real hashpower.
Miners Direct Real Hashpower to Sztorc's Fork
The 3.53 PH/s hashpower is distributed among several pools, with Ecashpool-alpha leading. The remaining share consists of Kikko, L2L Pool, Nurserypool, Ckpool, Solo, Guilastuce, BIP300.xyz, Layertree, and Avonpool. Since the ECX network's difficulty is still low, blocks are being generated at a rate that makes Bitcoin's regular ten-minute intervals seem glacial in comparison. But although ECX already has miners and a small number of wallets, the ecash (ECX) crypto asset still has no established market value.
ECX is not yet listed on cryptocurrency exchanges, resulting in no defined price or real trading venue, and the situation may not change until the third and final phase of the network's development, timed for the 18th anniversary of the Bitcoin whitepaper's publication—October 31, 2026. Nevertheless, comparing Sztorc's fork with the BIP-110 event reveals a stark contrast: the former has tangible miner support, while the latter simply lacked it.
ECX Faces Its Biggest Test After the 'Mining Surge'
Nonetheless, the initial surge proves technical viability, not economic sustainability. Once the difficulty stabilizes and the block reward decreases, miner enthusiasm could evaporate in the absence of a tradable price. The long wait until October 2026 is a grave for growth dynamics, as hype quickly fades. On the other hand, this early surge could signal genuine support, growth dynamics could intensify, and infrastructure providers such as wallets and centralized crypto exchanges might see sufficient activity to begin listing ECX.
Time will tell.
