Splitting coins in a Bitcoin Core wallet after potential fork August 1st

[dotbitme]

I am trying to establish a safe way to split coins in a Bitcoin Core wallet after the fork without risking BTC in exchanges or non-Core clients. My initial thinking was to do it like this:

• The original wallet containing BTC is a normal Bitcoin Core wallet fully synced.
• Set up a new Bitcoin Core wallet as well as a Bitcoin ABC wallet.
• Transfer the BTC from the original wallet to the new Core wallet with OP_RETURN "Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System" which makes the transaction invalid on the new BCC network.
• Stop the original Core wallet (now empty on the original chain) and the ABC wallet and copy the wallet.dat from the original Core wallet to the ABC wallet.
• Restart the ABC wallet with -rescan. The BCC should now show up in the ABC wallet while the BTC are safe in the new Core wallet as the transfer above is only valid on the BTC side. Transfer the BCC to an exchange and sell for BTC.

Would this even work? I would love some advice.

In the latest BCC specification there is a new way using SIGHASH_FORKID, but I am unsure how to make use of that instead? The OP_RETURN is still valid but obsolete.

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[achow101]

There is no need to make a second Bitcoin Core wallet, or to even do anything to split your coins. Since they now have two way replay protection, your coins will be split the moment the chain forks.

What you need to do to spend your ABC coins is to just make a copy of your Core wallet.dat file. Then install the Bitcoin ABC client and put your copied wallet.dat file in the place where you want the ABC datadir to be (do this before starting ABC). Then start ABC and let it sync. When you want to spend your ABC coins, just use the ABC wallet. When you want to spend your Core coins, use the Bitcoin Core wallet.

[dotbitme]

Ahh, so it's that simple now that SIGHASH_FORKID has been added - GREAT!

Thanks for the quick reply

[cr1776]

Ahh, so it's that simple now that SIGHASH_FORKID has been added - GREAT!

Thanks for the quick reply

You should also be able to copy (not move) the blocks themselves to the appropriate ABC directory and begin from there to save yourself having to resync it all.

[dotbitme]

One last clarification in the spirit of not trusting BTC private keys to a non-core wallet:

I assume it is possible to first transfer all BTC out of a wallet (after the fork has occurred) and then copy the wallet.dat file to the ABC wallet, rescan and all BCC should show up. Is that correct?

[achow101]

One last clarification in the spirit of not trusting BTC private keys to a non-core wallet:

I assume it is possible to first transfer all BTC out of a wallet (after the fork has occurred) and then copy the wallet.dat file to the ABC wallet, rescan and all BCC should show up. Is that correct?

Yes.

[themaxx]

What you need to do to spend your ABC coins is to just make a copy of your Core wallet.dat file. Then install the Bitcoin ABC client and put your copied wallet.dat file in the place where you want the ABC datadir to be (do this before starting ABC). Then start ABC and let it sync. When you want to spend your ABC coins, just use the ABC wallet. When you want to spend your Core coins, use the Bitcoin Core wallet.

Any idea where this datadir is on Windows? I have:
C:\Program Files\BitcoinABC
C:\Program Files\BitcoinABC\daemon
C:\Program Files\BitcoinABC\doc

Also, can I share the transaction history with my Bitcoin Core Wallet, or do I need to download a new and separate transaction history? It takes ages to download.

[achow101]

Any idea where this datadir is on Windows? I have:
C:\Program Files\BitcoinABC
C:\Program Files\BitcoinABC\daemon
C:\Program Files\BitcoinABC\doc

The datadir for Bitcoin ABC is the same as Bitcoin Core's datadir. This is C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Bitcoin.

Also, can I share the transaction history with my Bitcoin Core Wallet, or do I need to download a new and separate transaction history? It takes ages to download.

Yes, but you cannot run both at the same time, and because there will be a fork, I recommend that you don't do that as you will have blocks that are invalid to one software and vice versa. Instead of downloading a new chain, right now, before the fork, you should make a copy of your entire datadir and have Bitcoin ABC use the copied datadir by starting it with the -datadir=<path> option.

[themaxx]

Thanks for your quick answers!

[moniter]

Just a quick followup question: I am in a similar situation as OP with a small caveat - my Bitcoin Core wallet (0.14.2) has not been fully synced; it is currently approx ~47 weeks behind with a 15-hour ETA and does not show the up-to-date BTC balance. Would I be able to follow the same steps outlined but copy the datadir of the original core wallet with 2 weeks remaining on sync as to save some time syncing the entire blockchain all over again, or would this not be compatible due to the potential of the tail-end of the sync occurring post-fork.

To summarize, would the following game-plan be viable?

1. Already created copy of Core wallet.dat file

---- Post-Fork -----

2. Install ABC client in new/separate datadir (might even use a separate computer altogether) from Core and place following:
    a) Copied Core wallet.dat file from pre-fork.
    b) Copied blocks stopped with 2 weeks behind (or some other cushion time) to save ABC sync time.
3. Start Core Wallet and complete sync (remaining ~2 weeks + new blocks).
4. Transfer all BTC by sending to new address.
5. Start ABC and complete sync (~2 weeks of core chain + new ABC blocks) and scan Core wallet.dat file.
6. Now able to spend ABC coins from ABC wallet?

Any clarification is greatly appreciated, thanks!

[achow101]

2. Install ABC client in new/separate datadir (might even use a separate computer altogether) from Core and place following:
    a) Copied Core wallet.dat file from pre-fork.
    b) Copied blocks stopped with 2 weeks behind (or some other cushion time) to save ABC sync time.
3. Start Core Wallet and complete sync (remaining ~2 weeks + new blocks).
4. Transfer all BTC by sending to new address.
5. Start ABC and complete sync (~2 weeks of core chain + new ABC blocks) and scan Core wallet.dat file.
6. Now able to spend ABC coins from ABC wallet?

Yes to all of the above.

[moniter]

You rock achow101! Thanks for confirming.

[dennyd999]

Yes, but you cannot run both at the same time, and because there will be a fork, I recommend that you don't do that as you will have blocks that are invalid to one software and vice versa. Instead of downloading a new chain, right now, before the fork, you should make a copy of your entire datadir and have Bitcoin ABC use the copied datadir by starting it with the -datadir=<path> option.

1.If my Bitcoin Core datadir is allready synchronized after the fork can I steel path this datadir to Bitcoin ABC ?


2. Also is that correct that I can now send my money from wallet.dat from Bitcoin Core and than I can use it with zero balance on it, but Bitcoin ABC still will show preforked BTC ammount even if I send it after fork to another adress.. Is it absolutely right?

[achow101]

1.If my Bitcoin Core datadir is allready synchronized after the fork can I steel path this datadir to Bitcoin ABC ?

Yes, but I wouldn't recommend it. Using the datadir which has a chainstate of what ABC would consider an invalid chain may result in some really weird behavior. No one has testing doing that before, so no one knows what will happen and what could go wrong.

2. Also is that correct that I can now send my money from wallet.dat from Bitcoin Core and than I can use it with zero balance on it, but Bitcoin ABC still will show preforked BTC ammount even if I send it after fork to another adress.. Is it absolutely right?

Yes. BTC transactions are invalid to BCC nodes and vice versa.

[dennyd999]

Thanks a lot achow101.

[Alexey555]

Good afternoon!
Sorry for the stupid questions, but finally got confused.
If I have Bitcoin Core on my PC and I install Bitcon ABC on the same PC in another folder with activation of my wallet.dat, will I get the same amount of BBC coin on this purse?
Example: we have 1 BTC, set Bitcon ABC gets 1 BCC? Do I lose my 1 BTC?
Next, I sell 1 BCC somewhere for 0.5 BTC, I transfer to the old Bitcoin Core and I get 1.5 BTC in the TOTAL?
And how much time do I have for such actions, if they are true?
Sorry if I'm stupid. )))) I ask for clarification.

[fabiorem]

I created a second wallet, transferred funds to it, copied the blockchain to a second drive, kept the first wallet in this second drive, unplugged the first drive, got to another OS, installed bitcoin ABC, pointed it to the second drive, and...

Bitcoin ABC is showing BCC as transferred to the second wallet, which is on the original bitcoin-qt.

All the five transactions are there. I spend money with these transactions for nothing, since it didn't split.

How can I split them? I did everything said here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2059111.0 even installed another OS to access it and not mess any files.

[brockleeroy]

One last clarification in the spirit of not trusting BTC private keys to a non-core wallet:

I assume it is possible to first transfer all BTC out of a wallet (after the fork has occurred) and then copy the wallet.dat file to the ABC wallet, rescan and all BCC should show up. Is that correct?

Yes.

I transferred all my BTC out of my Bitcoin Core wallet after the fork occurred so they are in a new Bitcoin Core wallet safe. I then copied my Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file to the new Bitcoin ABC wallet on another computer. It shows my BCC balance as 0 in Bitcoin ABC wallet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

[njcarlos]

I transferred all my BTC out of my Bitcoin Core wallet after the fork occurred so they are in a new Bitcoin Core wallet safe. I then copied my Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file to the new Bitcoin ABC wallet on another computer. It shows my BCC balance as 0 in Bitcoin ABC wallet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bump... did you find out what the issue was? Maybe you needed to rescan?

[alexcrys]

I transferred all my BTC out of my Bitcoin Core wallet after the fork occurred so they are in a new Bitcoin Core wallet safe. I then copied my Bitcoin Core wallet.dat file to the new Bitcoin ABC wallet on another computer. It shows my BCC balance as 0 in Bitcoin ABC wallet. Any advice would be greatly appreciated.

Bump... did you find out what the issue was? Maybe you needed to rescan?

I have the same problems balance 0, but on blockchair my wallet have BCC, how to rescan ? thx