Satoshi's Bitcoin in Danger? 1.1M BTC Stash Faces Seizure Risk in New Hard Fork
A proposed Bitcoin hard fork by LayerTwo Labs (called “eCash”) and separate developer proposals to counter quantum threats have raised the prospect that Satoshi Nakamoto’s long-dormant ~1.1M BTC could be reassigned, restricted or frozen. Founder Paul Sztorc said the fork would mirror balances onto a new chain and suggested manually reassigning some of the patoshi-pattern coins to investors before an August 2025 fork date, triggering community backlash. A parallel proposal would limit or block transactions from wallets deemed vulnerable to quantum attacks, which could render untouched holdings inaccessible. On-chain trackers estimate Satoshi-controlled addresses hold ~1.09M BTC (~$85.12B at current rates). Market impact: these proposals increase protocol uncertainty and could raise volatility and downside pressure if new-chain coins are sold or funds become effectively immobilized, while also drawing heightened community and regulatory scrutiny.