The week of Aug. 17-23 is packed with events that could draw close attention from crypto traders, policymakers, and market infrastructure operators. On Aug. 19, President Donald Trump is expected to attend a White House gathering of crypto and prediction-market executives, with CEOs from Coinbase, Ripple, Gemini, Robinhood, Polymarket, and Kalshi also set to join, according to CoinDesk. The event is expected to warm up the first formal meeting of the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission’s newly formed Innovation Advisory Committee. A day later, the Federal Reserve will release minutes from its July policy meeting, where the Federal Open Market Committee voted 9-3 to keep the federal funds rate at 3.5% to 3.75%. Markets will be looking for clues on how many officials saw a case for a rate hike and what evidence could shift the broader committee. Elsewhere, South Korea will roll out tighter rules for single-stock leveraged products and expand review standards for crypto operator registration. The same week also includes a series of exchange and network updates, including Binance delistings and precision changes, Coinbase product launches and support changes, Upbit service suspensions, a planned bitcoin eCash hard fork, and Manus data migration steps tied to its return as an independent company.

ECX developer Paul Sztorc has announced that the ECX hard fork will roll out in three phases instead of a single launch on Aug 23. The first Alpha version activates Aug 23 at block height 963648, Beta goes live Sep 20 at block height 967680, and the permanent full version arrives Oct 31 at block height 973728. ECX is a new blockchain that reproduces Bitcoin's entire transaction history at specified block heights. Nearly all Bitcoin holders will receive an equal amount of ECX, except for some bitcoin belonging to Satoshi Nakamoto, and the Bitcoin network itself stays unchanged. Tokens collected during Alpha and Beta can be destroyed and exchanged for official ECX once the permanent chain is live. Replay protection remains optional, though the official wallet will enable it and remind users before a transaction is executed. Sztorc warned that ignoring the reminder could cause ECX to replay the user's Bitcoin transaction, with the associated bitcoin following the transfer and moving to the new holder. Oct 31 also marks the 18th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto publishing the Bitcoin white paper.

ECX developer Paul Sztorc said the ECX hard fork will now be launched in three stages instead of going live in a single release on Aug. 23 as originally planned. The project is described as a new blockchain that copies Bitcoin’s full transaction history at a specified block height. According to the announcement, nearly all Bitcoin holders, except for a portion of Bitcoin associated with Satoshi Nakamoto, will receive an equal amount of ECX, while the Bitcoin network itself will remain unchanged. The Alpha release is scheduled to activate on Aug. 23 at block height 963648, followed by Beta on Sept. 20 at block height 967680. The permanent full version is set for Oct. 31 at block height 973728. Tokens collected during the Alpha and Beta phases can be destroyed and exchanged for formal ECX after the permanent chain goes live. Sztorc also said replay protection will remain optional. The official wallet will enable that protection and warn users before transactions are executed. If users ignore the warning, ECX will replay their Bitcoin transactions, causing the related Bitcoin to be transferred out to a new holder. Oct. 31 also marks the 18th anniversary of Satoshi Nakamoto publishing the Bitcoin white paper.

ECOX Network rescheduled its initial listing target of January 8, 2026, pointing to final upgrades and system optimization. The delay elevates KYC progress, ECX token locking, and Phase 3 roadmap delivery above price speculation. Users are advised to avoid unofficial links and rely solely on official project channels.