How to get BCH from my existing Bitcoins?

[NeonFlash]

Hi All,

On August 1st, the Blockchain splitting occurred. I know that some Bitcoin exchangers automatically credited the accounts of users with equal number of Bitcoin Cash coins (BCH) as they had Bitcoin.

However, I wanted to know that if I have some Bitcoins on my local computer. I have the complete wallet and I own my private keys. In that case, can I do something now to get those BCH as well?

I am using Bitcoin Core version: 0.13.1.0 and the last time I opened my wallet was before the Blockchain splitting occurred.

Thanks.

[RogHimself]

Yeah want to know an aswer to this question aswell

Before August 1st I've transported my BTC to Jaxx Wallet and still trying to find out how to claim my BCC since the app still doesn't support BCC.

Is there an alternative way to claim my BCC since I do own the private keys?

[NeonFlash]

So, from what I have read, as long as you own the private keys to your Bitcoins, you can claim your BCH at any point of time.

There is some information here: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/beginners-guide-claiming-your-bitcoin-cash-and-selling-it/

The steps according to me should be:

1. Install a reliable and safe Bitcoin Cash wallet on a different computer. The reason for installing on a different computer is to prevent any conflicts between BCH specific wallet (for example: Bitcoin ABC) and Bitcoin wallet.

2. Take a backup of your wallet using Bitcoin Core wallet.

3. Import the back up into Bitcoin Cash wallet.

4. Now, for added safety, you can move the Bitcoins to a new Bitcoin Core Wallet so that they don't share the same addresses.

[escrow.ms]

Yeah want to know an aswer to this question aswell

Before August 1st I've transported my BTC to Jaxx Wallet and still trying to find out how to claim my BCC since the app still doesn't support BCC.

Is there an alternative way to claim my BCC since I do own the private keys?

You can import your private keys in "electron cash" wallet or BTC.com wallet but I will advice you to transfer your bitcoins first in a different wallet just for safety.

[escrow.ms]

So, from what I have read, as long as you own the private keys to your Bitcoins, you can claim your BCH at any point of time.

There is some information here: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/beginners-guide-claiming-your-bitcoin-cash-and-selling-it/

The steps according to me should be:

1. Install a reliable and safe Bitcoin Cash wallet on a different computer. The reason for installing on a different computer is to prevent any conflicts between BCH specific wallet (for example: Bitcoin ABC) and Bitcoin wallet.

2. Take a backup of your wallet using Bitcoin Core wallet.

3. Import the back up into Bitcoin Cash wallet.

4. Now, for added safety, you can move the Bitcoins to a new Bitcoin Core Wallet so that they don't share the same addresses.

Yes this process will work. Just make sure to transfer your bitcoins to a new wallet first.

[aleksej996]

So, from what I have read, as long as you own the private keys to your Bitcoins, you can claim your BCH at any point of time.

There is some information here: https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/beginners-guide-claiming-your-bitcoin-cash-and-selling-it/

The steps according to me should be:

1. Install a reliable and safe Bitcoin Cash wallet on a different computer. The reason for installing on a different computer is to prevent any conflicts between BCH specific wallet (for example: Bitcoin ABC) and Bitcoin wallet.

2. Take a backup of your wallet using Bitcoin Core wallet.

3. Import the back up into Bitcoin Cash wallet.

4. Now, for added safety, you can move the Bitcoins to a new Bitcoin Core Wallet so that they don't share the same addresses.

This will take more time then it should. You should also do the 4. before anything else. Be careful during the whole process.
So move your wallet.dat file somewhere outside of the folder. Start Bitcoin Core and create a new address(es). Don't wait for sync. Just close it after you created the new addresses, write them down, Move the new wallet.dat file somewhere else. Move back the old one back into the Bitcoin Core folder. Start the client and send the coins to the new addresses you generated.
Install Bitcoin Cash node. Copy the whole (this will save you a lot of time) Bitcoin Core folder to the Bitcoin Cash client's data folder. And move the new wallet with those newly generated addresses than now have BTC on them to the Bitcoin Core folder.
Now when you start either one of them the sync will be where it was when you last started a client. You will have the same amount of coins on both clients, minus the mining fees on the Bitcoin Core one. Enjoy your new coins now

[NeonFlash]

@aleksej996: Thanks for the details. I have a few questions:

1. Why do we need to move the Bitcoins to a newly created Address? What is the advantage?

2. Which wallet needs to be imported into Bitcoin Cash Wallet? Do we import the newly created Bitcoin Core wallet (the new addresses) to Bitcoin Cash Wallet?

3. Is it OK to install Bitcoin Cash Wallet on the same Computer as the Bitcoin Core wallet?

4. The Blockchain Data saved in data folder of Bitcoin Core wallet is compatible with Bitcoin Cash wallet (for example: Bitcoin ABC)?

5. Is it OK to generate receiver addresses in Bitcoin Core wallet even before the sync has completed and use these addresses?

I know that these are a lot of questions but I just wanted to make sure that I understand everything before starting this process

[equator]

@aleksej996: Thanks for the details. I have a few questions:

1. Why do we need to move the Bitcoins to a newly created Address? What is the advantage?
Ans: This is for the safety of yours as their are rumours that after installing bitcoin cash wallet the private keys are exposed and it can be used by hackers.

2. Which wallet needs to be imported into Bitcoin Cash Wallet? Do we import the newly created Bitcoin Core wallet (the new addresses) to Bitcoin Cash Wallet?
Ans:you have to import the wallet which was holding the bitcoin at the time of hardfork as it is holding the coins other wallet wont give you coins as they are empty.

3. Is it OK to install Bitcoin Cash Wallet on the same Computer as the Bitcoin Core wallet?
Ans:No. it will be safe to install bitcoin cash wallet in separate computer as if their is any virus in the wallet you wont be in problem.

4. The Blockchain Data saved in data folder of Bitcoin Core wallet is compatible with Bitcoin Cash wallet (for example: Bitcoin ABC)?
Ans: No. Idea.

5. Is it OK to generate receiver addresses in Bitcoin Core wallet even before the sync has completed and use these addresses?
Ans: why to generate receive address when their is already address you got with coins.

I know that these are a lot of questions but I just wanted to make sure that I understand everything before starting this process

[ranochigo]

3. Is it OK to install Bitcoin Cash Wallet on the same Computer as the Bitcoin Core wallet?

Yes, if you trust it. If you do install Bitcoin Cash in the same computer, you HAVE to remember to specify an alternate data directory. Bitcoin ABC by default, will use the data directory which is the same as Bitcoin Core, resulting in database corruption.

4. The Blockchain Data saved in data folder of Bitcoin Core wallet is compatible with Bitcoin Cash wallet (for example: Bitcoin ABC)?

Yes, up to the point of fork. You have to copy out the Bitcoin Core data directory and point Bitcoin cash at that new directory. Any blocks before the fork will be the same on both chains and you can use them without reindexing.

5. Is it OK to generate receiver addresses in Bitcoin Core wallet even before the sync has completed and use these addresses?

Yes. It's perfectly fine, just unable to see the balance in the addresses.

[NeonFlash]

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies. It is indeed very helpful and I now understand better.

Just a quick question about moving Bitcoins from my current wallet to a new wallet using Bitcoin Core.

Can I do this using the same Bitcoin Core Installation on my computer or do I need to install Bitcoin Core once again? Because if I make a new installation of Bitcoin Core, then I would need to download the entire blockchain once again.

Note: In the guide by theymos here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2059111.0, following was recommended:

"Create a totally new logical wallet with a new mnemonic, etc. Just creating new addresses is not sufficient: the new wallet needs to be completely separate from the old one. The new wallet's private keys should be under your personal control just in case your transaction is replayed or something else goes wrong. Make sure you have backups of the new wallet."

Totally new logical wallet means a new wallet.dat file right? I think this new file will be generated automatically by Bitcoin Core once it is started with no wallet.dat file present inside Data Directory.

Can I do the following to move Bitcoins from my current wallet to a new address?

1. Sync Bitcoin Core completely with the latest block. Now close the running instance of Bitcoin Core.
2. Cut and paste the original wallet.dat file from Data Directory of Bitcoin Core to a new location.
3. Open Bitcoin Core once again. Now, it should generate a new wallet.dat file. Allow the sync in Bitcoin Core to complete. Now, generate a new Receiver address. Close Bitcoin Core.
4. Now backup new wallet.dat file in a new location. Put back the wallet.dat file saved in step 2 in data directory of Bitcoin Core.
5. Transfer Bitcoins from old wallet.dat to new Address generated (corresponding to new wallet.dat).

Once the above steps are completed, I need to import the old wallet.dat file into a Bitcoin ABC installation on a different computer to get the BCH.

Do I understand it right?

[aleksej996]

Hi All,

Thanks for the replies. It is indeed very helpful and I now understand better.

Just a quick question about moving Bitcoins from my current wallet to a new wallet using Bitcoin Core.

Can I do this using the same Bitcoin Core Installation on my computer or do I need to install Bitcoin Core once again? Because if I make a new installation of Bitcoin Core, then I would need to download the entire blockchain once again.

Note: In the guide by theymos here: https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2059111.0, following was recommended:

"Create a totally new logical wallet with a new mnemonic, etc. Just creating new addresses is not sufficient: the new wallet needs to be completely separate from the old one. The new wallet's private keys should be under your personal control just in case your transaction is replayed or something else goes wrong. Make sure you have backups of the new wallet."

Totally new logical wallet means a new wallet.dat file right? I think this new file will be generated automatically by Bitcoin Core once it is started with no wallet.dat file present inside Data Directory.

Can I do the following to move Bitcoins from my current wallet to a new address?

1. Sync Bitcoin Core completely with the latest block. Now close the running instance of Bitcoin Core.
2. Cut and paste the original wallet.dat file from Data Directory of Bitcoin Core to a new location.
3. Open Bitcoin Core once again. Now, it should generate a new wallet.dat file. Allow the sync in Bitcoin Core to complete. Now, generate a new Receiver address. Close Bitcoin Core.
4. Now backup new wallet.dat file in a new location. Put back the wallet.dat file saved in step 2 in data directory of Bitcoin Core.
5. Transfer Bitcoins from old wallet.dat to new Address generated (corresponding to new wallet.dat).

Once the above steps are completed, I need to import the old wallet.dat file into a Bitcoin ABC installation on a different computer to get the BCH.

Do I understand it right?

Yes, that will work, if you want the long way. You will download and verify the entire blockchain again, which is more then 100GB. So good luck with that, it will take a while.
I just wouldn't let Bitcoin Core sync in the first step. If you are using a different PC for Bitcoin Cash wallet, then you should copy the entire Bitcoin Core data folder on some big external hard drive and transfer it to your BCH computer. It will still take time to transfer the files, but not as much obviously.

[NeonFlash]

@aleksej996: Thanks. I guess that after Bitcoin Core is synced with the latest Blockchain, we cannot copy over the data directory folder to Bitcoin Cash wallet?

And I think this might be because Bitcoin Cash shares the same version of Blockchain with Bitcoin Core up until the time of hard fork. So, if the blockchain is already synced with latest version of Bitcoin then we cannot re-use it with Bitcoin Cash wallet.

So, looks like I really need to sync the complete Bitcoin Cash wallet once again. But it should be worth it

[KenR]

Hi All,

On August 1st, the Blockchain splitting occurred. I know that some Bitcoin exchangers automatically credited the accounts of users with equal number of Bitcoin Cash coins (BCH) as they had Bitcoin.

Only couple of them.

However, I wanted to know that if I have some Bitcoins on my local computer. I have the complete wallet and I own my private keys. In that case, can I do something now to get those BCH as well?

I am using Bitcoin Core version: 0.13.1.0 and the last time I opened my wallet was before the Blockchain splitting occurred.

Thanks.

At this point,you should stay away from bogus wallets which advertise themselves all over the internet.You can follow a tutorial on Coinomi wallet to get your BCH which would be stored on their wallet.To be on the safer side,move all your coins from the current wallet to a completely new wallet and then go with the private key export procedure.

[Zloren]

I think it depends on the initial agreement before the split (before 1 August). I also have small bitcoins in blockchain, but do not get Bitcoin Cash. While the bittrex exchanger gets Bitcoin Cash automatically

[dragonmike]

This was a massive free lunch for BTC holders by the way.
I did the whole BCH-claiming operation on Saturday and earned myself a nice $950 bonus only from having held 1.1 BTC in my wallet when the fork happened.

Epic.

[illyiller]

This was a massive free lunch for BTC holders by the way.
I did the whole BCH-claiming operation on Saturday and earned myself a nice $950 bonus only from having held 1.1 BTC in my wallet when the fork happened.

Epic.

There's no such thing as a free lunch. The price has risen more than 2x in the last couple days. At the very least, that's opportunity lost right there.

But I'm more concerned about the the time frame of months, rather than days, anyway. Even though the fundamentals of BCH aren't strong, I can see a narrative developing here where it could gain significant value (if only temporarily).... It survived the initial dump, the Korean exchanges seem on board with the pump, Roger Ver with bitcoin.com and Jihan Wu backing it. And Bitmain could give BCH a bigger hash rate than BTC if they really want to. I'm gonna wait and see with my BCH. If it plummets to zero, at least I won't have lost any bitcoins over it.

[aleksej996]

@aleksej996: Thanks. I guess that after Bitcoin Core is synced with the latest Blockchain, we cannot copy over the data directory folder to Bitcoin Cash wallet?

And I think this might be because Bitcoin Cash shares the same version of Blockchain with Bitcoin Core up until the time of hard fork. So, if the blockchain is already synced with latest version of Bitcoin then we cannot re-use it with Bitcoin Cash wallet.

So, looks like I really need to sync the complete Bitcoin Cash wallet once again. But it should be worth it

I am not sure about the fact that synced Bitcoin Core wallet's data is useless for Bitcoin Cash one. There is probably a command line option to verify last couple of blocks and it will discard the invalid (Bitcoin Core after fork) ones.

[KenR]

I am not sure about the fact that synced Bitcoin Core wallet's data is useless for Bitcoin Cash one. There is probably a command line option to verify last couple of blocks and it will discard the invalid (Bitcoin Core after fork) ones.

It should be useless.A totally different chain remember ?

This was a massive free lunch for BTC holders by the way.
I did the whole BCH-claiming operation on Saturday and earned myself a nice $950 bonus only from having held 1.1 BTC in my wallet when the fork happened.

Epic.

The same would be valued at $50 in the coming weeks after the big dump.You did the right thing by selling when the price was still right.

[aleksej996]

Well, I meant that the synced Bitcoin Core blcokchain is more useful then no blockchain when starting Bitcoin Cash client. BCH client would see only last blocks as invalid and there might be a command line option to try to verify a certain amount of last blocks and if they are invalid to discard them and to continue syncing from there.

[NeonFlash]

Quick Question:

Should I make a backup of the Bitcoin wallet before transferring Bitcoins to a fresh new Bitcoin wallet?

Let's say I have a original wallet (let's say wallet_1) with BTC. And I transfer the BTC to a new wallet (let's say wallet_2). Now, after transferring, I use the wallet_1 file and import into BCH wallet. Will it work?

Because each time I transfer BTC from the original wallet (wallet_1) to new wallet (wallet_2), there will be modifications made to the wallet. Details of new transactions will be stored in it. So, when the original wallet is imported into Bitcoin Cash wallet, will it still assign me BCH?