Everyone has an opinion about the upcoming Bitcoin split happening (as far as we know) on August 1. However, most people don't have tons of time to read and study WTF is going on with Bitcoin's upcoming fork.
People on Facebook have been asking me about specific third-party Bitcoin wallets and their stance on Bitcoin Cash, BCC, which is set to fork from Bitcoin, BTC.
The main issue is this: if you don't have your private keys, you won't get coins in both currencies (BTC and BCC). This means you will lose out on money. So, people get confused if they even have their private keys.
HERE IS WHAT I KNOW FOR SURE
IF YOUR BITCOIN IS ON COINBASE, YOU WILL NOT GET BITCOIN CASH COINS.
YOU NEED TO MOVE YOUR BITCOIN OFF COINBASE RIGHT NOW IN ORDER TO GET BITCOIN CASH. YOUR BTC WILL BE FINE, BUT YOU WON'T GET AN EQUAL AMOUNT OF BCC IF YOU LEAVE IT IN COINBASE.
Here's the Coinbase stance:
To ensure the safety of customers’ funds, we will temporarily suspend BTC deposits, withdrawals, and buy/sell starting approximately 4 hours before activation of either fork. If:
(a) you wish to access your coins on the UAHF chain, or
(b) you want to ensure you can access your funds immediately while the UAHF/UASF forks are happening,
you should withdraw your BTC from Coinbase to an external wallet address under your control by July 31.
Is there any risk to simply leaving my BTC in Coinbase during this event?
No, there is no risk to your existing funds. Leaving BTC in your Coinbase wallet will not change anything about your BTC. However, you should move your BTC off Coinbase if you would like access to coins on the new UAHF chain.
Further reading on Coinbase info regarding Bitcoin split: https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/2844217-uahf-uasf-faq
THE NEXT QUESTION: WHERE SHOULD I MOVE MY BITCOIN TO?
I am moving my Bitcoin to my Trezor because I just read from the Trezor blog that they will be honoring both BTC and BCC. This means that those who have Bitcoin on the Trezor will have coins from both chains. I read that Ledger Nano S is also a good place to move your Bitcoin to during this time.
Trezor states:
As this is a chain-split, Bitcoin Cash will share its entire transaction history with Bitcoin up until the point of the split, with the history diverging after the split. This means that for whatever amount of bitcoins you had before the split, you will end up having that same amount of Bitcoin Cash. Moreover, as Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash essentially become two separate currencies, they will be independent of each other. You will be able to spend your bitcoin cash without spending bitcoin.
This article assumes you own your private keys. With TREZOR, your private keys are in the safest place possible — in your device and nowhere else.
Further reading on Trezor from official blog: https://blog.trezor.io/bitcoin-cash-hard-fork-chain-split-safe-guide-abbe3e9c553f
If you don't have a Trezor, I have heard that the Electrum wallet is a good one to use, and that you have control of your private keys. If someone has a link to the electrum wallet, and experience with this, please comment below. Also, from Exodus wallet's Twitter, they stated that they will not support Bitcoin Cash! I like Exodus, but I am not happy with their stance. What are your thoughts on this?
Anyone know the easiest Bitcoin wallet that controls private keys? What should newbies switch to?
Thanks and Happy Forking,
Stellabelle