Bitcoin splits in 2

Bitcoin-themed balloons at the "Inside Bitcoins: The Future of Virtual Currency Conference" in New York. Reuters/Lucas Jackson

Bitcoin power brokers were unable to come behind a single solution that would have preserved a unified cryptocurrency by Tuesday morning's deadline.

As such, the digital currency has officially forked and split in two: bitcoin cash and bitcoin.

Miners were able to seek out bitcoin cash beginning Tuesday morning, and the cryptocurrency-focused news website CoinDesk said the first bitcoin cash was mined at about 2:20 p.m. ET.

"There seems to be some technical issues that might be slowing it down, but yes, the fork has happened," Peter Borovykh of Blockchain Driven, a blockchain technology company, told Business Insider earlier on Tuesday.

Miners are the folks who solve complex computer problems using software to unleash digital coins into the market. It took a couple of hours after the official fork for miners to unlock the first bitcoin cash coins.

"It seems as if people overestimated the mining power, or the support from miners — hence, it is taking far longer than most expected," Iqbal Gandham, the UK managing director at the social investment network eToro, said in a statement sent to Business Insider just before the split.

Bitcoin was the first digital currency built on blockchain technology, in which transactions are independently verified by the network without the need of a middleman like a bank. Bitcoin cash is built on the same blockchain network as bitcoin, but the new software increases the size of the "blocks" that make up the network to allow it to process more information.

Supporters of the newly formed bitcoin cash believe the currency will "breath new life into" the nearly 10-year-old bitcoin by addressing some of the issues facing bitcoin of late, such as slow transaction speeds.

Bitcoin power brokers have been squabbling over the rules that should guide the cryptocurrency's blockchain network.

On one side are the so-called core developers. They are in favor of smaller bitcoin blocks, which they say are less vulnerable to hacking. On the other side are the miners, who want to increase the size of blocks to make the network faster and more scalable.

Until last week, the solution known as Segwit2x, which would double the size of bitcoin blocks to 2 megabytes, seemed to have universal support.

Servers for data storage seen at Advania's Thor Data Center in Hafnarfjordur, Iceland. Thomson Reuters

Then bitcoin cash came along. The solution is a fork of the bitcoin system. The new software has all the history of the old platform; however, bitcoin cash blocks have a capacity 8 megabytes.

Bitcoin cash came out of left field, according to Charles Morris, a chief investment officer of NextBlock Global, an investment firm with digital assets.

"A group of miners who didn't like SegWit2x are opting for this new software that will increase the size of blocks from the current 1 megabyte to 8," Morris told Business Insider.

To be sure, only a minority of bitcoin miners and bitcoin exchanges have said they will support the new currency.

Investors who have their bitcoin on exchanges or wallets that support the new currency will soon see their holdings double, with one unit in bitcoin cash added for every bitcoin. But that doesn't mean the value of investors' holdings will double.

Because bitcoin cash will initially draw its value from bitcoin's market cap, it will most likely cause bitcoin's value to drop by an amount proportional to its adoption. Bitcoin was already trading down by 5.78% at $2,715 on Tuesday following word that bitcoin cash had gone live. Morris told Business Insider that bitcoin cash was trading in the futures market for about $200 to $400 last week, suggesting that's the range it would fall in during regular trading.

Kraken, a bitcoin exchange, tweeted Tuesday morning that it was experiencing delays getting bitcoin cash to show on user's accounts.

"Please note," the exchange said, that bitcoin cash "balances have not been credit yet." It added that it was "working to credit as soon as possible."

Numerous exchanges have said they won't back bitcoin cash.

"In the event of two separate blockchains after August 1, 2017 we will only support one version," David Farmer, the director of Biz Ops at Coinbase, a cryptocurrency exchange, wrote in a blog post. "We have no plans to support the bitcoin cash fork."

Coinbase has served nearly 9 million customers across 32 countries, according to the firm's website. The firm has enabled the exchange of over $20 billion worth of digital currency.

But just because some big players won't get behind it doesn't necessarily mean bitcoin cash will be a dud or that it couldn't eventually usurp the original bitcoin. Miners may rally behind bitcoin cash if it turns out to be the better digital currency.

"Bitcoin cash has a chance to become the dominant cryptocurrency contingent upon its ability to gain trust and support from both current and new players as well as security of its network," Borovykh of Blockchain Driven said. "Due to, at least temporary, solution of the scalability issues, bitcoin cash could attract more new capital to the entire crypto space, thus helping increase overall market cap."

Arthur Hayes, the CEO of BitMEX, a bitcoin derivative exchange, told Business Insider he thought a fork would benefit the cryptocurrency in the long run after some short-term volatility and confusion.

"There are people with billions of dollars of skin in the game," Hayes said. "And they will ultimately go with the superior bitcoin network, and the market will follow."

Potential network disruption
12 July 2017

Last updated: 2017/07/21 12:00 UTC . This page will be updated when new information becomes available. See the list of updates.

Starting at approximately 2017/07/23 00:00 UTC , Bitcoin confirmation scores may become less reliable than normal for a period of up to a month.

Users are advised to wait for more confirmations than they usually would before accepting any payment as final. Bitcoin.orgвЂ™s usual recommendation during network disruption is to wait for 30 confirmations.

We also recommend monitoring this page and other Bitcoin news sites for additional information and updates.

Outdated information from earlier versions of this post follows.

Chain split

Since BitcoinвЂ™s inception, its network has facilitated hundreds of millions of transactions. As a result, different groups of people (developers, investors, entrepreneurs, etc.), have debated on the best ways Bitcoin can be optimized to allow it to exponentially scale even further. In recent months, alternative software has been released that represents some of the interests of the aforementioned groups of people - software that is scheduled to go live toward the end of July.

The Bitcoin block chain, which is a record of all Bitcoin transactions to date, relies on a network of thousands of Bitcoin nodes running Bitcoin software. On 2017/08/01 00:00 UTC , the Bitcoin block chain may experience what is known as a chain split. This is when a portion of BitcoinвЂ™s nodes run software that another portion of nodes are not fully compatible with. As a result, some nodes may propagate confirmed transactions that other nodes may not accept or recognize. This may result in unreliable confirmation scoring for an unknown length of time. This means that any bitcoins you receive during this period could disappear from your wallet or be a type of bitcoin that other people will not accept as payment, until the situation is resolved.

Once the situation is resolved, confirmation scoring will either automatically return to their normal reliability or there will be two (or more) competing versions of Bitcoin as a result of a split block chain. In the former case, you may return to using Bitcoin normally; in the latter case, you will need to take extra steps in order to begin safely receiving bitcoins again.

This post currently describes what actions you can take to prepare for this situation. Subsequent to 2017/08/01 00:00 UTC , we will update this post as best we can with relevant information, but you are also advised to monitor other Bitcoin news sites and community resources for updates and to cross-check all information, as someone may attempt to spread false news in order to exploit the situation.

Remember that you alone are responsible for the safety of your bitcoins, and that if you lose control of them for any reason, there is nothing the operators or contributors to this website can do to help you.

Note: there is a chance a milder level of disruption could start between now and 2017/08/01 00:00 UTC . If that is the case, this post will be updated with details.

Preparation

If you accept bitcoins as payments, we recommend that you stop accepting Bitcoin payments at least 12 hours before 2017/08/01 00:00 UTC , although 24 to 48 hours earlier may be safer. This will give time for all pending payments to confirm on the Bitcoin block chain before the event.

If you send bitcoins as payments, note that many services may stop accepting bitcoins at 2017/08/01 00:00 UTC or earlier.

Be wary of storing your bitcoins on an exchange or any service that doesnвЂ™t allow you to make a local backup copy of your private keys. If they accept transactions during the event, they could lose money and will likely spread those losses across all their users. If there end up being two or more competing versions of Bitcoin, then they may refuse to give you your bitcoins on versions they donвЂ™t like.

Bitcoin may experience significant price fluctuations in relation to other currencies. Learn more about price volatility and ensure you arenвЂ™t holding more bitcoin than you can afford to lose.

During the event

Do not trust any payments you receive after 2017/08/01 00:00 UTC until the situation is resolved. No matter how many confirmations the new payment says it has, it can disappear from your wallet at any point up until the situation is resolved.

Try not to send any payments. During the event there may be two or more different types of bitcoin and you may send all of the different types to a recipient who only expects one type. This would benefit the recipient at your expense.

Be wary of offers to allow you to invest in the outcome of the event by вЂњsplittingвЂќ your coins. Some of these offers may be scams, and software claiming to split your coins can also steal them.

After the event

We will update this section with more information after 2017/08/01 00:00 UTC . Please monitor this page accordingly and wait until multiple news sources that you trust have stated that the event is resolved before returning to normal Bitcoin use.

Document history

Note: The information contained herein is not to be construed as an official statement by Bitcoin Core. Bitcoin.org and Bitcoin Core open source projects are run by separate teams.

A full history of this document is available. The following points summarize major changes, with the most recent changes being listed first.

2017/07/22 12:00 UTC : describe possible unreliability of confirmation scores starting July 22 or 23.
2017/07/13 11:21 UTC : add general info about split.
2017/07/12 12:00 UTC : initial version.

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Policy / Civilization & Discontents

Why the Bitcoin network just split in half and why it matters

Two rival versions of Bitcoin might be better than one.

by Timothy B. Lee - Aug 2, 2017 2:10 pm UTC

On Tuesday, a faction of the Bitcoin community launched an audacious experiment: a new version of Bitcoin called Bitcoin Cash that's incompatible with the standard version. As a result, the Bitcoin network split into two mutually incompatible networks that will operate side-by-side.

The confusing result is that if you owned one bitcoin before the split you own two bitcoins now: one coin on the original Bitcoin network, and a second coin on the new Bitcoin Cash network. The two coins have the same cryptographic credentials, but they have very different values if you sell them for old-fashioned dollars. On Wednesday morning, one standard Bitcoin was worth about $2,700, while—on paper at least—a unit of Bitcoin Cash was worth around $600.

Getting Bitcoin Cash off the ground is a remarkable achievement. The big question now is whether the network's supporters can keep it aloft in the coming weeks and months. So far, most of the Bitcoin community has chosen to stick with the mainstream Bitcoin software and network. If Bitcoin Cash can't attract a critical mass of users and businesses, the rival payment network could wither on the vine.

If Bitcoin Cash does achieve critical mass, on the other hand, its future could be bright. It was created by Bitcoin supporters worried about growing congestion in the mainstream bitcoin network that has led to slow payment processing and high fees. Bitcoin Cash removes an important technical obstacle that has hampered the growth of the mainline Bitcoin network. In principle, that could allow Bitcoin Cash to become more widely used—and hence more valuable—in the long run.

Why people created a rival version of Bitcoin

For over a year, the Bitcoin network has been bumping up against a capacity limit hard-coded into the Bitcoin software. Each block in the Bitcoin blockchain—the network's public, shared transaction ledger—is limited to 1 megabyte. That artificial limit prevents the network from processing more than about seven transactions per second.

Technically speaking, it would be trivial to change that 1 megabyte limit to a higher value. But proposals to do so have faced opposition from traditionalists who argue the limit is actually an important feature of Bitcoin's design that protects the network's democratic character. To participate in the network's peer-to-peer process for clearing transactions, a computer needs a copy of every transaction ever made on the Bitcoin network, which adds up to gigabytes of data per month.

Small-block supporters worry that raising the block limit will raise the storage and bandwidth costs of participating in the network, pricing out ordinary users. That could lead to a Bitcoin network dominated by a few big players, making the network more susceptible to government control and regulation—exactly what Bitcoin was created to avoid.

Big-block supporters say storage and bandwidth costs have fallen so quickly that this isn't a serious concern. And they say Bitcoin is going to need to process a lot more than seven transactions per second to become a mainstream technology with a real shot at changing the world.

This argument has dragged on for more than two years with no resolution. So instead of continuing to bicker, a group of big-block supporters took matters into their own hands. They forked the standard, open-source Bitcoin client to create a rival version of the software.

They could have started over with an empty blockchain—the cryptocurrency version of a clean slate. But if they'd done this the new software would likely have languished in obscurity. Instead, they chose to branch off from the existing Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Cash has the same transaction history prior to August 1, 2017, which means that anyone who owned ordinary bitcoins before the switch owns an equal number of Bitcoin Cash bitcoins, secured by the same cryptographic keys, after the switch.

Forking the blockchain allows the creators of Bitcoin Cash to position themselves as the true heirs to Bitcoin's still-pseudonymous founder Satoshi Nakamoto. The Bitcoin Cash faction views themselves not as creating an alternative to Bitcoin, but as laying the groundwork for the next stage of Bitcoin's growth. They believe that the higher block limit will allow Bitcoin Cash to overtake the standard Bitcoin network in transaction volume, eventually making it the most popular version of the technology.

Is Bitcoin about to split? 4 possible scenarios

Bitcoin as we know it might never be the same again from August 1 as the possibilities of fork become more pronounced than ever before. The hottest news in the cryptocurrency industry right now is that the Bitcoin blockchain will be split into two. A group in the Bitcoin community has announced a plan to split off from the Bitcoin network to create a new version of the cryptocurrency called Bitcoin Cash.

The splitting group made up of investors, developers, miners and Bitcoin users submit that Bitcoin cash is a continuation of the Bitcoin project as peer-to-peer digital cash in line with the original vision of Satoshi Nakamato. This piece provides insight into why Bitcoin is being faced with the possibilities of a split as well as the scenarios that could play out around the split.

Bitcoin is far from perfect

Bitcoin is a smart store of value and a means of exchange that offers a superior value proposition to fiat currencies. Bitcoin is scarce, durable, portable, divisible, storable, fungible and difficult to counterfeit – features that fiat currencies can’t easily claim. Yet, despite the obvious pros of Bitcoin, it mostly serves as an investment and store of value in today’s economy instead of being a means of exchange.

The main problem delaying the mass adoption of Bitcoin is two-pronged. To start with, the Bitcoin blockchain network is currently too slow to be viable to power the bulk of economic transactions. The Bitcoin blockchain processes about six transactions per second; in contrast, VISA alone processes more than 1,600 transactions per second on its network.

The slowness of the Bitcoin network is the reason behind the second problem ailing Bitcoin – Bitcoin usage attracts expensive transaction costs. Each Bitcoin transaction includes a transaction fee – the transaction fee is the payment that encourages miners to include a transaction in the block ledger for the transaction to be processed. Since Bitcoin is decentralized, users have the liberty to determine how much they want to pay in transaction fees.

However, since miners are human—they tend to process the transactions will high fees first while transaction with low fees might be left unattended for hours and sometimes, days before they are recorded in the block.

Making Bitcoin perfect is causing massive divisions – Here’s why Bitcoin is about to be split

One of the proposed solutions for speeding up the processing times of Bitcoin transactions and reducing the transaction costs is called the SegWit solution that removes the part of the transaction that is not critical to the block in order to create room in the block for more transactions.

Another solution that was proposed to solve the problems ailing Bitcoin is SegWit 2X, which is known as MASF (Miner Activated Soft Fork) and BIP 91 in some quarters. SegWit 2X simply separates the Witness from the Block (same as in SegWIt) but it goes ahead to expand the size of the block from 1MB to 2MB. SegWit 2X should ideally increase transaction times and reduce transaction costs. However, SegWit2X could potentially push small miners out of the market and put the Bitcoin ecosystem under the control of a few miners.

The fact that there are two schools of thought on how the Bitcoin platform can be further improved to drive mass adoption has already caused massive division in the Bitcoin community. If the split goes into effect, there will be two version so Bitcoin – one version will see people use the traditional block in line Satoshi’s plans while the other version will have a blockchain built on an updated platform.

Bitcoin users should in theory not be worried about the split because you should be able to spend the coins you had before the split on both blocks. However, after the split, the Bitcoin on the two blocks might experience different variations in value, usage, adoption, and quantity

Here are four possible scenarios surrounding the split:

Possibility 1 – the split will go on

The first possibility is that the Bitcoin network is now guaranteed to split given the arrival of Bitcoin Cash in the market. Bitcoin Cash debuted with an official announcement on a Bitcoin talk forum from a group (not the UASF group) that wants to split off because SegWit is about to be adopted in the Bitcoin network. Bitcoin cash is radically different in the set of rules it wants to run on its network and it is unlikely that the people behind Bitcoin cash will back down. To start with, Bitcoin Cash is designed to benefit users more than miners; hence the value proposition of Bitcoin Cash suggests that it will get a warm welcome in the market. Bitcoin Cash network is launching with an 8MB block size to have a higher transaction capacity than Bitcoin SegWit/Bitcoin Current.

Bitcoin Cash already boasts the support of ViaBTC (one of the high profile miners). ViaBTC has posted a cryptic tweet hinting that they’ll stop mining regular Bitcoin on August 1 and transfer their mining power to mining Bitcoin Cash. It is important to note that ViaBTC currently accounts for 5.2% of the total mining power on the Bitcoin network.

It is also quite possible that the people behind Bitcoin Cash already have set up high tech mining systems under the radar through which they’ll get their network up and running. In any case, there’s a strong possibility that the split will happen on August 1 in line with Bitcoin Cash threats. If you are currently holding Bitcoins you will be entitled to free Bitcoin Cash tokens in case you are using one of the supported wallets or exchanges.

Possibility 2 – we will avoid the blockchain split

Even though Bitcoin Cash is gearing up to start up as a different version of Bitcoin, there’s a slight possibility that the split won’t go off. For one, the Bitcoin community could find a way to reach a compromise on the core problems causing division in the Bitcoin platform. However, the more factual reason a split might be averted (at least for now) is that most miners are yet to signal bit 1 for SegWit. In fact, experts believe that the proportion of miners signaling bit 1 is below 50% contrary to hints on BIP 91 activations.

In essence, the people coalition behind Bitcoin Cash might decide to stop or postpone the forking if they can’t guarantee the fact that BIP 91 will be enforced on economic relevant nodes – by economic relevant nodes I mean nodes managed by Bitcoin users who accept Bitcoin as a form of payment. Right now, the only factual thing that we can lay hold about the split is a statement of intent and I wouldn’t be surprised if new information triggers a need to rethink the decision to fork the blockchain.

Possibility 3 – the split will happen but one of the versions will fizzle out

Another possible change that the Bitcoin platform can see is that the split will happen as predicted but of the Bitcoin versions will fizzle out and loss steam. Either of Bitcoin Cash or ‘Bitcoin SegWit’ could crash soon after the split on August 1 if too few people use the cryprocurrency, if merchants don’t support the cryptocurrency, and it wallets don’t support the cryptocurrency.

For one, the 5.2% mining power that ViaBTC is promising to direct towards mining Bitcoin Cash steal leaves about 94.8% of the current mining power in the hands of Bitcoin SegWit miners. Hence, unless the people behind Bitcoin Cash have already (or plan to) invested in mining equipment, Bitcoin Cash might run out of the mining power it needs to reach a critical mass.

Possibility 4 – a two-part split twice this year

Another undeniable possibility is that we could see the split being postponed until sometime later this year. Irrespective of what the warring factions in the Bitcoin ecosystem believe, a split into two (or more) versions of Bitcoin is bad news for the cryptocurrency.

To start with, many people have invested heavily in the Bitcoin brand and it would hard to sort out of the mess arising from a split. More so, it might not be easy to work out cross-compatibility in the early days of the split and the price of Bitcoin will tank massively if users panic to trigger a sell-off. Hence, it is quite possible that the voice of reason will prevail and that the warring factions will find middle ground on their points of differences.

Nonetheless, there always seem to a sort of power struggle going on in the Bitcoin platform because the miners are on one side of the divide and the Satoshians are on other side of the divide. In essence, postponing the August split is akin to postponing the proverbial evil day because the fundamentals differences will remain. Hence, it is quite possible that we will avert a Bitcoin split on August 1, but you shouldn’t be surprised if we start talking about another potential split in the next couple of months.

Final words

Irrespective of whether a Bitcoin split happens or not, Bitcoin users will do well to take proactive steps to protect their Bitcoin holdings to avoid being caught in the crossfire. You may want to make sure that you have transferred all the Bitcoin you own to your private wallet by August 1 before the split goes into effect. In fact, you should ensure that you have withdrawn your Bitcoin from all exchanges and third-party sites into private wallet that you control the key to.

It’s in your best interest to withdraw your Bitcoin into a hardware wallet but you may want to find an online wallet and keep your recovery phrase secure. You should also avoid sending or receiving any Bitcoin transactions from August 1 until the volatility in the cryptocurrency market boils over and we know where Bitcoin is heading as a currency.

A Bitcoin Beginner’s Guide to Surviving a Coin-Split

There is a chance Bitcoin will experience a coin-split soon. If a majority of miners (by hash power) switch to Bitcoin Unlimited and decide to mine blocks bigger than one megabyte, while at least some users stick to the current Bitcoin protocol, the network and blockchain can split in two. In that case, there may be two different types of Bitcoin tokens: “BTC,” which follows the current Bitcoin protocol, and “BTU,” which follows the new Bitcoin Unlimited protocol.

The good news is that each bitcoin would effectively be copied onto the Bitcoin Unlimited chain. If you hold bitcoin right now, you will hold both BTC and BTU after a split.

The bad news is that a coin-split can be messy and risky. This is mainly because, at first, all BTCs and all BTUs will be stuck together. You will need to separate them somehow; otherwise you can lose your BTC or your BTU.

This guide will provide you with the basics to stay safe during a coin-split, and make sure you make it to the “other side” with both your BTC and BTU intact.

Author’s note: If you want to play the BTC/BTU markets as soon as possible and you are fine with taking risks, and/or you really know what you are doing, this article is probably not for you. (Perhaps try this Electrum article instead.)

If you mostly just want to make sure not to lose your BTC or BTU, read on …

Before the Coin-Split (That’s Now)

First of all, be aware that a coin-split is a high-risk situation. There is a real chance a sort of cyber-battle will break out between the two camps, perhaps even escalating to the point where bitcoin’s exchange rate(s) drops sharply, possibly to zero. Make absolutely sure you are not holding more value in bitcoin than what you are willing to lose.

If you do decide to hold on to your bitcoins, the single most important piece of advice is this: control your own private keys.

If you are storing your bitcoins on an exchange, in a custodial wallet like Coinbase, Circle or Xapo, or on any other service that holds your private keys for you, you may or may not eventually receive coins on both ends of the chain. Several exchanges have so far suggested you may but have made no guarantees. And at least one exchange, GDAX, has explicitly indicated you may not.

If you’re using any of these kinds of services to store your bitcoins, you need to create your own wallet. Send your bitcoins to this new wallet; this wallet now holds your private keys.

What kind of wallet you want to use is up to you. That said, here are some basic solutions:

If you don’t care about transacting with either BTC or BTU anytime soon, and really just want to keep both as a long-term investment, printing your private keys on a paper wallet is one option. This option, however, is only really secure if you follow strict security precautions, which you can find here.

Another option is to get a hardware wallet. Any of the hardware wallets listed on bitcoin.org will keep your private keys secure. One hardware wallet provider in particular, Trezor, has explicitly acknowledged that users will have access to their coins on both ends of the chain if a coin-split happens.

Regular wallets are about as secure as your computer (or phone) is. Since most computers and phones are not all that secure, these are not ideal for large amounts. With that in mind, all mobile wallets and desktop wallets listed on bitcoin.org will store your private keys for you. Additionally, a full node like Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Knots gives you a little extra security during a coin-split, as you’ll see below.

In any case: Make sure you make backups of your keys! Most wallets require you to do this when installing; don’t skip this step.

During the Coin-Split

The first thing to note is that Bitcoin Unlimited has not set a "flag date" to fork. This means that theoretically, a fork could happen at any time. Realistically, however, it will depend on miner coordination, and it will probably be obvious to even casual Bitcoin observers when a fork is close to happening.

If Bitcoin Unlimited does fork, things could get messy for anywhere between a couple of hours to a couple of days, or longer.

Unfortunately, Bitcoin Unlimited currently does not include “replay protection.” This means that post-fork, transactions on both sides of the fork will look identical. If a transaction is picked up by both networks — for example, because the receiver of a transaction re-transmits the transaction on the other network — that transaction may be valid on both chains. This is called a “replay attack.”

As such, spending coins on one end of the chain could make you accidentally spend the equivalent coin on the other side of the chain. Instead of paying someone only BTC, you may unintentionally send BTU as well — or vice versa. This is how the BTCs and BTUs are “stuck together.”

The best way to prevent replay attacks is simple: do not send any transactions. Not until it is clearer to everyone what the post-fork situation looks like.

If you use Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Knots as a wallet and you want to accept BTC, that should still be fine. (Someone who didn’t read this article may accidentally send you the equivalent in BTU, though. If this happens, you should probably return the funds later on.)

Bitcoin Unlimited, on the other hand, does not include “wipeout protection.” If the amount of mining power on the BTC chain ever overtakes the BTU chain, the entire BTU chain will be discarded (unless users on the BTU chain coordinate fast enough to prevent this in unconventional ways).

Unless and until it is absolutely clear that Bitcoin Unlimited emerges as a definitive winner forever, accepting any BTU is very risky, and you probably shouldn’t do it at all.

After the Coin-Split

If both chains survive, and you control your private keys, you will have coins on both sides of the fork. But as mentioned, it will be tricky to spend coins on one chain without accidentally spending the equivalent on the other side.

Fortunately, there are ways to avoid these replay attacks. The most straightforward solution requires brand-new coins, mined after the split. These new coins are the only coins that do not exist on both chains and cannot, therefore, be spent on both. Combining these new coins with old coins effectively splits the BTC from BTU.

This coin-splitting can, and probably will, be a bit complex. But some exchanges will likely set up coin-splitting services and take care of most of the complexity behind the screens. You’d just need to send your bitcoins to an exchange, and the exchange will credit your account with BTC and BTU. (They should even replay the transaction for you, to make sure they indeed receive both your coins and can split them for you.) If you want, you can now also sell your BTU for BTC (or fiat currency), or the other way round.

There may also be other solutions to split your coins in the event of a coin-split, perhaps even trustless solutions. But that remains to be seen.

After the split, there will probably be wallets for both coins soon enough. Of course, you may need to upgrade your existing wallet or download a new wallet if and when this happens. This also remains to be seen. (Do not accept any transactions on your wallet before this is clear.)

Further specifics on what to do after a coin-split will be announced on Bitcoin Magazine (and most likely on bitcoin.org and other sources of information) if and when a coin-split occurs and we have a better understanding of the post-fork situation.

If only one chain survives, operations should continue at some point. However, it’s not exactly clear what this post-fork landscape will look like. Perhaps you’ll have to upgrade your wallet. This will also be announced on Bitcoin Magazine if and when it comes to it.

If neither chain survives, the Bitcoin experiment has failed, and your private keys will probably be worthless.

So, to Recap .

1. Control your private keys.

2. To be on the safe side, avoid any transactions shortly after the split. (If you must accept BTC, use Bitcoin Core or Bitcoin Knots as a wallet.)

3. As the dust settles, split your coins. (How, exactly, will depend on Bitcoin’s post-fork landscape.)

This article will be updated as the news develops.

Bitcoin Split Is Nothing to Fear

Over the last week, the price of Bitcoin crashed from around $2,400 to $1,800 on fears of a so-called hard fork, which is to say the digital currency would effectively split in two due to software upgrades at the end of the month that would create competing marketplaces.

Potential and actual forks have roiled cryptocurrency prices regularly since the introduction of Bitcoin in 2009. The problem with most reporting of these events is that it treats cryptocurrencies as different from physical currencies, and a fork as a complicated technological disaster.

After a fork, a currency exists in two or more incompatible forms. Two of the biggest forks for the U.S. dollar occurred in 1963 and 1971.

In 1963, the U.S. passed the badly conceived Interest Equalization Tax on purchases of foreign securities by taxpayers. London banks quickly created “eurodollar” deposits, 1 dollar deposits outside the U.S. banking system, which were not subject to the tax. 2

A eurodollar is kind of like a dollar, except that it is not supported by the U.S. When there is more faith in banks than governments, eurodollars carry a lower interest rate than regular dollars because they are less subject to American jurisdiction. But when banks are troubled, eurodollars carry higher rates because the eurodollar banks might be unable to redeem deposits. 3 In 2008, when that possibility became real, the Federal Reserve supported eurodollars. 4

In 1971, the Reserve Primary Fund was formed. It was organized via a loophole in mutual fund rules, not as a money substitute. Regulators fought these funds for years before embracing them in the early 1980s. Purchase of money market shares was kind of like depositing money in a bank, except that the money market funds paid much higher rates, 5 and except that the deposit had no official support. Nevertheless, in 2008, the government decided to support money market funds. 6 Money market deposits are counted as dollars in the money supply according to M2, the most widely used measure.

Obviously neither of these forks, nor many smaller forks over the years, led to the abandonment of the dollar. The fact that London banks or U.S. fund managers could create their own versions of dollars without Fed oversight didn’t cause problems. 7 It made dollars more valuable because different flavors worked better for different purposes.

Cryptocurrencies have the opposite problem. Fear of forks makes it difficult to make routine technical changes. This conservatism is one of the factors fueling the growth of tokens that can be easily designed and updated to meet transactional needs, while tying their values to older cryptocurrencies, much like modern physical currencies began by tying their values to gold.

The fear of forks springs from a deeper fear that cryptocurrency values will unravel quickly to zero. Sure, this could happen, but it happens all the time with physical currencies as well.

There were at least 140 physical currencies in the world 100 years ago. Most evaporated without significant payment to holders. The Swiss franc was the best performer with only a 75 percent loss in value, followed by the dollar with a 95 percent loss and the pound at 98 percent. 8 Only a handful of other currencies have any value at all.

A 95 percent depreciation over a century is only a 3 percent loss per year, 9 yet it is the rule, not the exception, that currencies evaporate due to hyperinflation, government default or expropriation, or a losing a war. People do not use them because they have faith in their long-term survival, but because they can facilitate transactions today.

Bitcoin is far better protected against those four risks than any physical currency. The only thing it lacks is the imprimatur of a government -- or anything else. Does that give it a 3 percent chance of crashing to zero over the next year? That would put it around the historical loss from the best physical currencies. A 10 percent chance would make it roughly as risky as an average currency. Clearly, cryptocurrencies have far more short-term volatility in value than most physical currencies, but my estimate is that well-designed ones have much better chances of surviving a century -- or being bought out at significant value -- than the average physical currency.

Bloomberg Prophets

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Not to be confused with the euro currency introduced in 1999.

Eurodollars and “euro” versions of other currencies have grown to become major currencies in their own right. Also, many other currencies exist in incompatible “onshore” and “offshore” versions.

This is a risk distinct from bank credit problems. Even a solvent foreign bank might not be able to get dollars because it is not supported by the Fed.

That could be taken as an argument that the fork no longer exists.

Banks were limited to paying a maximum 2 percent per year, and in most cases zero, while in the late '70s inflation would go over 2 percent per month.

With the exception of the Reserve Primary fund specifically; also, newer dollar substitutes such as SIVs, auction rate preferred and conduits, after much debate, were not supported. Afterward, regulations fundamentally changed.

A more colorful fork was created in the 1950s in Las Vegas when residents started using casino chips as money, but this particular fork was shut down in the early 1980s.

The other surviving currencies come from Canada or Scandinavian countries; or are linked to the dollar or the pound; or are currencies like the Cuban peso and Venezuelan bolivar that have lost nearly all value.

People who used the dollar as a store of value could have held short-term government obligations to make back a good part of that loss.

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Your search engine does not find any satisfactory results for searches. It is too weak. Also, the server of bing is often off

I created a yahoo/email account long ago but I lost access to it; can y'all delete all my yahoo/yahoo account except for my newest YaAccount

I want all my lost access yahoo account 'delete'; Requesting supporter for these old account deletion; 'except' my Newest yahoo account this Account don't delete! Because I don't want it interfering my online 'gamble' /games/business/data/ Activity , because the computer/security program might 'scure' my Information and detect theres other account; then secure online activities/ business securing from my suspicion because of my other account existing will make the security program be 'Suspicious' until I'm 'secure'; and if I'm gambling online 'Depositing' then I need those account 'delete' because the insecurity 'Suspicioun' will program the casino game 'Programs' securities' to be 'secure' then it'll be 'unfair' gaming and I'll lose because of the insecurity can be a 'Excuse'. Hope y'all understand my explanation!

chithidio@Yahoo.com

i dont know what happened but i can not search anything.

Golf handicap tracker, why can't I get to it?

Why do I get redirected on pc and mobile device?

Rahyaftco@yahoo.com

RYAN RAHSAD BELL literally means

Question on a link

In the search for Anaïs Nin, one of the first few links shows a picture of a man. Why? Since Nin is a woman, I can’t figure out why. Can you show some reason for this? Who is he? If you click on the picture a group of pictures of Nin and no mention of that man. Is it an error?

Repair the Yahoo Search App.

Yahoo Search App from the Google Play Store on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I went to the Yahoo Troubleshooting page but the article that said to do a certain 8 steps to fix the problem with Yahoo Services not working and how to fix the problem. Of course they didn't work.

I contacted Samsung thru their Samsung Tutor app on my phone. I gave their Technican access to my phone to see if there was a problem with my phone that stopped the Yahoo Search App from working. He went to Yahoo and I signed in so he could try to fix the Yahoo Search App not working. He also used another phone, installed the app from the Google Play Store to see if the app would do any kind of search thru the app. The Yahoo Search App just wasn't working.

I also had At&t try to help me because I have UVERSE for my internet service. My internet was working perfectly. Their Technical Support team member checked the Yahoo Search App and it wouldn't work for him either.

We can go to www.yahoo.com and search for any topic or website. It's just the Yahoo Search App that won't allow anyone to do web searches at all.

I let Google know that the Yahoo Search App installed from their Google Play Store had completely stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I told them that Yahoo has made sure that their Yahoo members can't contact them about anything.

I noticed that right after I accepted the agreement that said Oath had joined with Verizon I started having the problem with the Yahoo Search App.
No matter what I search for or website thru the Yahoo Search App it says the following after I searched for
www.att.com.

WEBPAGE NOT AVAILABLE
This webpage at gttp://r.search.yahoo.com/_ylt=A0geJGq8BbkrgALEMMITE5jylu=X3oDMTEzcTjdWsyBGNvbG8DYmyxBHBvcwMxBHZ0aWQDTkFQUEMwxzEEc2VjA3NylRo=10/Ru=https%3a%2f%2fwww.att.att.com%2f/Rk=2/Es=plkGNRAB61_XKqFjTEN7J8cXA-
could not be loaded because:
net::ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED

I tried to search for things like www.homedepot.com. The same thing happened. It would say WEBPAGE NOT AVAILABLE. The only thing that changed were all the upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols.
Then it would again say
could not be loaded because:
net::ERR_CLEARTEXT_NOT_PERMITTED

This is the same thing that happened when Samsung and At&t tried to do any kind of searches thru the Yahoo Search App.

Yahoo needs to fix the problem with their app.

Yahoo Search App from the Google Play Store on my Samsung Galaxy S8+ phone stopped working on May 18, 2018.

I went to the Yahoo Troubleshooting page but the article that said to do a certain 8 steps to fix the problem with Yahoo Services not working and how to fix the problem. Of course they didn't work.

Should You be Concerned About a Bitcoin Chain Split on August 1st?

A lot of Bitcoin users are concerned about the upcoming August 1st deadline. That is only to be expected, as the user-activated soft fork is scheduled to go into effect on that date. As a result, a chain split is a more than likely outcome. This means users will need to take ample precautions to keep their bitcoins safe. That is much easier said than done, though.

Bitcoin Chain Split Can Have Dire Consequences

It is not the first time rumors surface regarding a potential Bitcoin chain split . The same occurred back when Bitcoin Unlimited was attempting to take over the network as a whole. Luckily, that threat never fully materialized, leaving things at the status quo we are at right now. However, it looks like things may change in a few weeks from now, thanks to the user-activated soft fork.

To be more specific, the August 1st deadline marks the date on which the user-activated soft fork will enter its activation process. At this time, the Bitcoin core protocol will undergo some changes, assuming the activation of this soft fork is successful. However, the downside of activating this soft fork is how it could result in an actual blockchain split, which will leave us with multiple instances of Bitcoin.

The UASF activation has caused quite a bit of speculation on social media already. Some people claim the UASF will result in one chain with Bitcoin and SegWit activation, whereas the other one will be dominated by the Chinese mining pools opposing this solution. It is doubtful things will get out of hand to such a degree, though, as no one wants to be on the “wrong” Bitcoin blockchain by any means.

The big problem is how the UASF does not seem to have much community support. More specifically, there is economic support from exchanges, wallet providers, and other Bitcoin companies. However, the community itself does not appear to be keen on the soft fork by any means. In theory, miners and other users should follow the economic support over time. However, things are never as black-and-white in the world of Bitcoin.

Users who are concerned about the UASF should take some precautions right now. Any funds stored in an online wallet or exchange need to be withdrawn to a desktop, mobile, or hardware wallet as soon as possible. Most companies will upgrade to accommodate the UASF and keep funds safe, but it is a good idea to make sure funds are in your control before the August 1st deadline hits.

In the end, it is important to remember there may not be a Bitcoin chain split in the end. It is certainly a possibility, and preparing for the worst is never a bad idea. In the worst case scenario, there will be two types of Bitcoin, both of which reside on different blockchains. This could result in the same scenario as we have seen with Ethereum and Ethereum Classic . A wallet backup is of the utmost importance in this regard, that much is evident.

If you liked this article, follow us on Twitter @themerklenews and make sure to subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest bitcoin, cryptocurrency, and technology news.

About The Author

JP Buntinx is a FinTech and Bitcoin enthusiast living in Belgium. His passion for finance and technology made him one of the world's leading freelance Bitcoin writers, and he aims to achieve the same level of respect in the FinTech sector.

Why put bitcoins to personal wallet? How is it that coinbase will mess up my bitcoin holdings if a split happens? What is the risk

I wouldn’t worry about it at this time. In the worst case scenario of a split, your coins will exist on both chains and there will likely be exchanges available to trade them on either chain.

well thats true. But what about the value of your bitcoins? what if every instance of btc (after the soft fork) reduced by say 70%?

I believe in the short term it will drop. I intend to buy more when that happens. I’m going long term and betting on both Bitcoin and Ether. I expect Bitcoin to be worth 500,000 in five years and Ether possibly the same.

I expect tulips to be worth even more

I would be worried, because if you store them in exchange, then the exchange will likely only give you control of the one they support

I WOULD worry about it. They will decide which coin you get which is essentially theft.
They will steal the other coins and what if they bet wrong? In other words they won’t give you both coins in case of a split. Read the Coinbase blog post on the subject. If you save it to a wallet you will have both.

If i put my Bitcoins on a offline wallet what happens when I transfer my coins back to Coinbase to trade the day after? Will they be split up then? If so how do I prevent that from happening?

Don’t do that. Hold them in your offline wallet until the issue settles. That’s the point. Eventually, there will be either one bitcoin or two. By holding them offline, if there are two bitcoins, you can decide which one you want to go with rather than letting coinbase decide for you.

How can we maintain wallet offline. please provide me details.

is this for Bitcoin only or does this effect other’s like LTC and ETC

if bitcoin prices take a hit because of a chain split, then all crypto will likely be affected. but the LTC/ETH chains wont be affected, no

What should you do before tomorrow’s Bitcoin split?

August 1st is almost upon us and the great Bitcoin “hard fork” is about to confuse the heck out of the casual cryptocurrency observer. Here’s what you should know.

Quite simply, if you are using an exchange that is explicitly in support of the Bitcoin Cash or you control your own private keys then you are fine. If you are keeping your bitcoin on an exchange, like Coinbase, that does not support Bitcoin Cash, then you should transfer your bitcoin immediately unless you don’t want to deal in Bitcoin Cash. It is a good idea to keep your own private keys regardless so this is a good time to get your coins off of any exchange you might have used in the past.

If you need further detail head over to Coindesk for more up-to-date info.

Which wallet?

The bottom line in any case is simple: you need to control your own keys.

I am using a Trezor hardware wallet and Electrum to hold the minimal amount of BTC for which I’m responsible. Your results may vary and I don’t actively endorse either of these products. The cynic in me doesn’t trust any tool or exchange.

The following shows how to create and send your BTC to an Electrum wallet on your computer. Keep track of your seed, friends. Please be careful. Send test amounts before you send your full amount.

But I’m still afraid

You should be. This shows a healthy respect for a technology whose hallmarks are transparent obfuscation and active campaigns of Fear, Uncertainty, and Doubt (FUD). If you’ve put your life savings into Bitcoin then I hope you’ve been following this far more closely than a single post the day before the fork. If you own one or two please move your Bitcoins to a local wallet and wait it out.

Watch your Bitcoin vanish: Blockchain split may be imminent

You will need to tread carefully in the coming weeks to avoid your funds disappearing.

By Charlie Osborne for Between the Lines | July 14, 2017 -- 10:59 GMT (03:59 PDT) | Topic: Innovation

Cryptocurrency traders have been warned that any Bitcoin received after the end of this month may vanish from their wallets or be rejected outright as a "chain split" takes place.

what's hot on zdnet

Bitcoin.org, a community related to the virtual currency, said on Thursday that the Bitcoin network has facilitated hundreds of millions of transactions to date.

The blockchain, the electronic ledger which records and tracks the exchange and trade of cryptocurrency, relies on this network, which is made up of thousands of Bitcoin nodes running Bitcoin software.

However, network improvements planned for the next few weeks may disrupt this network, leading to what is called a "chain split" -- an event in which some Bitcoin nodes will run on software that other nodes are suddenly not compatible with for a time.

"As a result, some nodes may propagate confirmed transactions that other nodes may not accept or recognize," Bitcoin.org warned. "This may result in unreliable confirmation scoring for an unknown length of time. This means that any bitcoins you receive during this period could disappear from your wallet or be a type of Bitcoin that other people will not accept as payment until the situation is resolved."

As noted by The Register, the event is Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 148 (BIP 148), an attempt to introduce revised code known as SegWit for increased Bitcoin blocksize and the scripting upgrade streamlining.

Once the updates have taken place, confirmation scoring will -- hopefully -- return to normal.

However, there is also a chance that there will be one or more versions of Bitcoin operating at the same time as a consequence of a chain split, which, in turn, could disrupt trading and transfers.

Traders in Bitcoin are being asked to stop accepting payments at least 12 hours before August 1, 01:00:00 GMT+0100 (BST), however, the organization recommends stopping payments as early as July 30 in the interests of safety.

If you are sending payments, you should not attempt to send Bitcoin after August 1 at the same time previously mentioned.

The organization suggests that Bitcoins left in exchanges or services without the option to make a local backup copy of your private keys should be avoided, as if they accept transactions during the event, they could lose money and these losses may end up being spread to users.

"If there end up being two or more competing versions of Bitcoin, then they may refuse to give you your bitcoins on versions they don't like," Bitcoin.org said. "Remember that you alone are responsible for the safety of your Bitcoins and that if you lose control of them for any reason, there is nothing the operators or contributors to this website can do to help you."

Prices are likely to fluctuate, and if you attempt to send any payments, as there may be two or more versions of Bitcoin floating around the ether at the same time, you may end up sending all types -- which would be a bonanza for the recipient, but less lucky for you.

In addition, you should not trust any payments or confirmations you receive during the event, as they may vanish from your wallet at any time.

There is also a chance that Bitcoin may be disrupted before these dates, and if so, Bitcoin.org will warn users beforehand with the details, and scams may circulate attempting to capitalize on the event.

It's possible a blockchain split won't occur, but traders should be careful with how they handle their virtual currency in the lead up to and during the maintenance event, as taking risks with transactions could result in lost profit.

суббота, 23 июня 2018 г.

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