The network pulsed like a heartbeat.
Echo Coins flowed freely—until they didn't.
It started small.Minor glitches. Coins vanishing. Builders losing verification.A few trades miscounted. Then a hundred. Then thousands.
"This isn't a bug," Ash growled, reading the code."It's a fork."
The screen confirmed it:
NEW CHAIN DETECTED: "ECHO-X"SOURCE: UNKNOWN – COIN STRUCTURE COMPROMISED.
They called it Blackchain.A near-perfect clone of Echo Coin—designed to mimic, infiltrate, and devalue.
Riven stared at the map.
"They're poisoning the network. From the inside."
Unlike Echo Coin, Blackchain rewarded consumption.Buy more. Control more. Take more.
And worse—
People were falling for it.
Mega influencers endorsed it.
Black market hubs swapped real Echo Coin for Blackchain at unfair rates.
Builder Council bots began certifying the fake chain as real.
It was a hostile economic takeover—through trust.
But Riven was ready.
"You want to clone value? I'll give you something priceless."
He unveiled Echo Key, a new protocol:
Every real Echo Coin now pulsed with a unique code rhythm.
Every legit builder's body emitted a signature via their Echo-link.
Each build added soul to the currency.
"You can copy a coin," Riven told the network,"but you can't copy the creator."
And then he did the unthinkable:
He burned 80% of the Echo Coin supply.
Purged the fakes.Reset the trust line.
Left only those earned through verified creative acts.
The world gasped.
The price of Echo Coin doubled in 48 hours.
Blackchain died in silence.
"Let them have their greed," Riven said."I'm building legacy."