Drivechains: BIP300 and BIP301
Drivechains are a design for connecting a main blockchain to sidechains with their own rules. eCash (ECX) is a separate Bitcoin hard fork designed to implement this architecture; it does not activate these rules on Bitcoin’s BTC network.
BIP300: hashrate escrows
BIP300, authored by Paul Sztorc and CryptAxe, specifies how coins are held for sidechains and how miners signal approval of withdrawal bundles. A sidechain’s users and software track its rules, while the main-chain mechanism processes deposits and approved withdrawals.
Withdrawals are deliberately slow: miner signalling occurs over a long block window. The official ECX integration guide describes a 13,150-ACK work score within 26,300 blocks for the mainnet withdrawal mechanism, also used on Beta. Always check current implementation parameters before integrating.
BIP301: blind merged mining
BIP301, also authored by Paul Sztorc and CryptAxe, describes a way for sidechain block producers to pay main-chain miners to commit to sidechain block hashes. “Blind” means miners need not run or validate every sidechain to participate in that mechanism.
BIP300 and BIP301 serve different roles: the former governs the connection between ledgers, and the latter addresses sidechain block production. They are not interchangeable names for a wallet or a new token.
How eCash implements the design
The eCash node works alongside bip300301_enforcer, which validates sidechain proposals, escrow messages, miner acknowledgements, and blind merged mining. The official sidechain integration guide explains when the companion software is required.
For project-specific software and development status, browse Thunder, zSide, BitNames, BitAssets, Truthcoin, Photon, and CoinShift. Mainnet plans and test-network activity should not be confused with a guarantee that every feature is production-ready.
Security assumptions and withdrawals
A miner-signalled peg is not a promise of risk-free custody. Its security model depends on miner behaviour and the withdrawal rules; sidechain software adds its own implementation risks. Fast-withdrawal services are separate arrangements, not a removal of the underlying consensus delay. Read the security discussions in the BIPs before depositing funds.
Sidechain withdrawals are also distinct from splitting BTC and ECX after the hard fork. The latter addresses replay between two main chains that share a history.
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