[Guide] Handling splits: UASFs, BIP148, etc.

[theymos]

Do I still have the time to transfer bitcoin from blockchain to paper wallet?

Yes.

[1715151858]

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[tradecoin.me]

Do I still have the time to transfer bitcoin from blockchain to paper wallet?

Yes.

How much more time? Is there a timer somewhere?

[MyMoneyShark]

Do I still have the time to transfer bitcoin from blockchain to paper wallet?

Yes.

How much more time? Is there a timer somewhere?

Till 1st of August

[theymos]

How much more time? Is there a timer somewhere?

You should aim to get at least 6 confirmations before 1 Aug 00:00 UTC.

The likelihood of something major actually happening has gone down due to BIP91, but it's still possible. BCC will definitely split, though I expect its value to be nearly zero, so maybe you don't care about that one.

As a side-effect of BIP91 which is separate from the Aug 1 stuff, long reorgs are possible. Therefore, it's a good idea to require 5x more confirmations than usual before trusting incoming transactions. This is especially a good idea for the next 48 hours, but it'd be maximally prudent to continue this for the next month or so.

[pooya87]

in case someone didn't know what the initial recommended x is to multiply it by 5, it is this recommendation here: https://bitcoin.org/en/you-need-to-know#instant

(in short go with 30+ specially if you are receiving a large amount to be the safest possible)

[OmegaStarScream]

I currently see on the news this message: "Due to BIP91, it would starting now be prudent to require 5x more confirmations than usual before trusting transactions." Why exactly 5 confirmations? why not simply one?

[theymos]

I currently see on the news this message: "Due to BIP91, it would starting now be prudent to require 5x more confirmations than usual before trusting transactions." Why exactly 5 confirmations? why not simply one?

My intended meaning is that you should take your normal confirmation requirement and multiply it by 5. So if you normally wait for 1 confirmation, wait for 5 instead; if you normally wait for 6 confirmations, wait for 30 instead.

Is this more clear now that I changed the news to say "5 times" instead of "5x"?

30 confirmations for high-reorg-risk periods was the expert consensus during the BIP66 incident. This is what bitcoin.org currently recommends. But I think that it's a bit excessively conservative for lower-value/lower-risk transactions in which you'd normally wait only 1-5 confirmations, so I say 5x instead.

[uki]

I do not fully agree on the

First of all, remove all bitcoins possible from banks/exchanges/"hosted wallets".

By "fully", I mean: Yes, if you are an inexperienced newbie and want to be on the totally safe side, this is what to do.

From experience with the ETH/ETC split, let me offer an alternative perspective on this, because I think it applies here very well:

At the time of the split, I had ETH at both BTC-e and at Kraken.

While at BTC-e this meant no ETC for me (of the same amount as I had ETH in there), at Kraken, I suddenly had magically <amount> ETC and the same <amount> ETH.

While the ETH/ETC split was intentional and we do not know if a similar thing will happen to BTC, it may happen and if it does, there are the following scenarios what may happen if you have your BTC at some exchange/bank:

• The Bank will only keep holding what it considers the "major" branch/split/fork of BTC. I.e. the "successor"
• The Bank will automagically provide you with both branches - read: wallets - (a.k.a. BTC and BTC-classic)
• The Bank will provide you only with the - from your perspective - "less desired branch".

It is only the 1st and 3rd scenario where the bank would f** you over and that justifies the precaution of not keeping any funds "at banks".
In the 1st one you lose potentially some assets of an alternate currency that may have quite some value, in the 3rd one you would
lose the majority of your value.

In case your Bank/Exchange will publish a handling policy in case of a non-negligible split that resembles case 2, I think it is not only safe, but also comfortable to keep the funds as is.

Executive Summary: If in doubt, go with the Theymos default. If exporting/selling BTC is a hassle and you trust your bank and it claims it would handle the split like giving you both coins: consider also "doing nothing" i.e. no moving the coins.

here is example of such statement for one of the exchanges:
https://support.bittrex.com/hc/en-us/articles/115000761392

Statement on the upcoming Bitcoin activation of Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 91 (BIP 91)

Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 91 (BIP 91, also known as Miner Activated Soft Fork) recently locked in over 90 percent of all mining hash power, signaling majority support for this proposal. BIP 91's lock in effectively makes BIP 148 (User Activated Soft Fork scheduled for August 1) obsolete and nullifies the chances of the Bitcoin network forking through UASF.

At this time, with BIP 91 locked in, we are confident that the Bitcoin network will successfully activate and enforce BIP 91 blocks. Bittrex will be monitoring this situation closely. We do not anticipate any issues with BIP 91 activation. However, Bittrex will close deposits and withdrawals of Bitcoin (including 2nd layer protocol XCP/OMNI and associated assets) 4 hours prior to the BIP 91 activation block 477,120 anticipated to be at July 23, 12am PST (7am UTC). The wallet will remain closed until the majority hash power chain is clearly established. Trading will remain active during this time. In the event of a chain split, Bittrex will take all reasonable steps to ensure that customer funds can be preserved on both chains.

Further information:

BIP 91: Reduced threshold Segwit Miner Activated Soft Fork (MASF)

BIP 148: Mandatory activation of segwit deployment (UASF)

BIP 91 Has Locked In. Here’s What That Means (and What It Does Not)

BIP 91 Locks In: What This Means for Bitcoin and Why It's Not Scaled Yet

UASF/Segwit2x Scenarios and Timelines

[uki]

and another statement about support of both chains for bitcoin.de exchange (for German-speaking users) here:
https://www.coinforum.de/topic/6545-statement-zu-einer-m%C3%B6glichen-chainsplit-durch-segwit2x-bip148/

[torrentco]

so bip91 is today?
bittrex disabled btc wallet because of bip91.

[btvGainer]

I have some btc at livecoin.net exchange that I forgot to move (not much only 0.2 btc).Is there still a time to move them?

[uki]

I have some btc at livecoin.net exchange that I forgot to move (not much only 0.2 btc).Is there still a time to move them?

once the exchange wallet was set into the maintenance mode, it is too late to withdraw coins from there.
You have to check your particular exchange individually. Some exchanges still haven't started the maintenance mode as of now.

[Yefet]

what about the BitcoinCash split? a fork to >1MB blocks will happen with BitcoinCash on 08/01/2017 right?

Code:

       --> BTC
BTC --
       --> BCC

IMHO that's a new altcoin being born not a Bitcoin split. You will just start with some altcoins on that chain (if you own your private keys), which you may sell for profit or simply ignore.
Bitcoin will also fork to 2MB blocks later, but it will happen smoothly the same way we saw now with BIP91

Yes, it's a new alt, but to be born it will split the BTC blockchain, because it uses the same one as Bitcoin.
On August the 1st miners and nodes supporting UAHF start to produce and verify blocks, not accepted by the others and blockchain splits.
Now, if you check the support for "Emergent Consensus" (which means support for bigger blocks), you'll see the possible size of the split coming, if most of that hashing power support UAHF by BCC.

[LTU_btc]

I want to move my coins from Xapo wallet. I can choose High Priority (mined within 6 blocks) and Standard Priority (mined within 1-2 blocks) So, is it safe to transfer coins with such number of confirmations? And as I understand, it would be better to choose high priority payment?
EDIT Sorry, made mistake, now updated post

[uki]

I want to move my coins from Xapo wallet. I can choose High Priority (6 confirmations) and Standard Priority (2 confirmations) So, is it safe to transfer coins with such number of confirmations? And as I understand, it would be better to choose high priority payment?

choose higher priority to stay on the safer side.

[suzanne5223]

I have some btc at livecoin.net exchange that I forgot to move (not much only 0.2 btc).Is there still a time to move them?

With my thinking and research. Yeah, Despite the fact that the SegWit2x BIP91 is on. You still have sometime to move your bitcoin since it not yet Aug 1 but you need to act fast and don't wait too long.

[masterv09]

So, I just finished reading the guide and all the posts over the last couple days.
Thanks for the guide and all the very helpful info !!!

So, from what I gather to date, BIP-91 is confirmed and will be activated, correct ?

I currently have BTC on Coinbase. I just logged into my account and Coinbase has a notice:
BTC Buys/Sells/Withdrawals will be Temporarily Disabled on July 31
Due to a potential fork of the bitcoin blockchain, all BTC buys/sells and withdrawals will be temporarily disabled beginning on July 31.

I do not have a wallet yet to move my BTC to yet, that would allow me to get my private keys.
I have also just purchased a Trezor, which will arrive by Aug. 28th
While waiting for the Trezor, I was going to create a paper wallet, once I transferred my BTC from Coinbase to a new Wallet and retrieved my private key(s).

Do I still have time to download and create a wallet, from posts on this thread, I was thinking either Electrum or Green Address (with double authentication).
I had also watched a video with Trace Mayer about a week ago and he recommended using Armory on top of bitcoin-core, but I don't think I have the time (or HDD space on my laptop) to download bitcoin-core and sync to the blockchain.

Confirmation/suggestions/recommendations would greatly appreciated !!
:-)

Thanks again for all the great info in the guide and all the posts, it's been quite a crash course/education for me over the past couple days.

regards

[shaggy404]

So, I just finished reading the guide and all the posts over the last couple days.
Thanks for the guide and all the very helpful info !!!

So, from what I gather to date, BIP-91 is confirmed and will be activated, correct ?

I currently have BTC on Coinbase. I just logged into my account and Coinbase has a notice:
BTC Buys/Sells/Withdrawals will be Temporarily Disabled on July 31
Due to a potential fork of the bitcoin blockchain, all BTC buys/sells and withdrawals will be temporarily disabled beginning on July 31.

I do not have a wallet yet to move my BTC to yet, that would allow me to get my private keys.
I have also just purchased a Trezor, which will arrive by Aug. 28th
While waiting for the Trezor, I was going to create a paper wallet, once I transferred my BTC from Coinbase to a new Wallet and retrieved my private key(s).

Do I still have time to download and create a wallet, from posts on this thread, I was thinking either Electrum or Green Address (with double authentication).
I had also watched a video with Trace Mayer about a week ago and he recommended using Armory on top of bitcoin-core, but I don't think I have the time (or HDD space on my laptop) to download bitcoin-core and sync to the blockchain.

Confirmation/suggestions/recommendations would greatly appreciated !!
:-)

Thanks again for all the great info in the guide and all the posts, it's been quite a crash course/education for me over the past couple days.

regards

Electrum would be the best option for now. Small download, syncs within seconds and you can export the private keys.

[estenity]

So, I just finished reading the guide and all the posts over the last couple days.
Thanks for the guide and all the very helpful info !!!

So, from what I gather to date, BIP-91 is confirmed and will be activated, correct ?

I currently have BTC on Coinbase. I just logged into my account and Coinbase has a notice:
BTC Buys/Sells/Withdrawals will be Temporarily Disabled on July 31
Due to a potential fork of the bitcoin blockchain, all BTC buys/sells and withdrawals will be temporarily disabled beginning on July 31.

I do not have a wallet yet to move my BTC to yet, that would allow me to get my private keys.
I have also just purchased a Trezor, which will arrive by Aug. 28th
While waiting for the Trezor, I was going to create a paper wallet, once I transferred my BTC from Coinbase to a new Wallet and retrieved my private key(s).

Do I still have time to download and create a wallet, from posts on this thread, I was thinking either Electrum or Green Address (with double authentication).
I had also watched a video with Trace Mayer about a week ago and he recommended using Armory on top of bitcoin-core, but I don't think I have the time (or HDD space on my laptop) to download bitcoin-core and sync to the blockchain.

Confirmation/suggestions/recommendations would greatly appreciated !!
:-)

Thanks again for all the great info in the guide and all the posts, it's been quite a crash course/education for me over the past couple days.

regards

Electrum would be the best option for now. Small download, syncs within seconds and you can export the private keys.

thank you for precious advice.

[Kwelstr]

So, I just finished reading the guide and all the posts over the last couple days.
Thanks for the guide and all the very helpful info !!!

So, from what I gather to date, BIP-91 is confirmed and will be activated, correct ?

I currently have BTC on Coinbase. I just logged into my account and Coinbase has a notice:
BTC Buys/Sells/Withdrawals will be Temporarily Disabled on July 31
Due to a potential fork of the bitcoin blockchain, all BTC buys/sells and withdrawals will be temporarily disabled beginning on July 31.

I do not have a wallet yet to move my BTC to yet, that would allow me to get my private keys.
I have also just purchased a Trezor, which will arrive by Aug. 28th
While waiting for the Trezor, I was going to create a paper wallet, once I transferred my BTC from Coinbase to a new Wallet and retrieved my private key(s).

Do I still have time to download and create a wallet, from posts on this thread, I was thinking either Electrum or Green Address (with double authentication).
I had also watched a video with Trace Mayer about a week ago and he recommended using Armory on top of bitcoin-core, but I don't think I have the time (or HDD space on my laptop) to download bitcoin-core and sync to the blockchain.

Confirmation/suggestions/recommendations would greatly appreciated !!
:-)

Thanks again for all the great info in the guide and all the posts, it's been quite a crash course/education for me over the past couple days.

regards

Electrum would be the best option for now. Small download, syncs within seconds and you can export the private keys.

I second that, Electrum is the easyest to use of the wallets with access to your private keys.