Bitcoin holders face potential exchange freezes as new chain rollout tests replay safety and market stability

Crypto exchange GMO Coin may suspend several Bitcoin services when eCash takes its first balance snapshot at block 963,648, expected around midnight Japan time on Aug. 23.

eCash is a new Bitcoin-derived chain that plans to credit holders with a separate ECX asset. Its live roadmap now describes this weekend’s event as an Alpha stage issuing practice ECX, rather than the final mainnet launch.

GMO Coin’s Aug. 7 notice says any suspension remains conditional, with both its start and end times undecided. The possible scope includes Bitcoin spot trading through GMO’s dealer and exchange services, BTC/JPY crypto FX and leveraged trading, plus BTC deposits and withdrawals.

That gives customers a decision point without a confirmed shutdown. GMO has not said whether the Alpha snapshot will trigger a pause or how long any interruption could last.

eCash now shows three rollout stages

The current eCash roadmap places Alpha at block 963,648 around Aug. 23, Beta at block 967,680 around Sept. 20, and Mainnet at block 973,728 around Oct. 31. The dates are estimates because the stages are tied to Bitcoin block production.

Under eCash’s current explanation, the Alpha and Beta snapshots credit practice ECX. Permanent ECX arrives at the mainnet snapshot, and practice units can be burned to redeem the permanent asset.

That description differs from the project’s integration guide, updated Aug. 11, which still calls block 963,648 the fork point and describes a 1:1 ECX credit there. The guide labels itself pre-launch and says final parameters, including the fork height and replay scheme, would be published separately.

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The known sequence is therefore clearer than GMO’s response to it: the live site calls this weekend’s event Alpha, but the exchange has not said whether its controls will treat that stage as requiring a service pause.

The revised schedule does not remove the technical concerns behind GMO’s warning. The exchange and eCash materials say the new chain uses the same address formats as Bitcoin, while replay protection is opt-in. GMO said those features could create transfer risks. It also warned that volatility and thin liquidity could widen spreads or contribute to margin calls and forced sales, while early chain instability could lead to transaction reversals.

ECX is separate from the existing XEC asset and from BIP-110, a different Bitcoin soft-fork proposal whose timeline uses nearby block heights. GMO and eCash both say the ECX chain does not alter users’ existing BTC.

For now, block 963,648 is a live planning point for GMO Coin rather than a confirmed freeze. The exchange’s next notice, if one comes, will determine whether customers face an actual interruption and provide the missing start and end times.