The Coming Fork(s) Safety For BItcoins

[bucksman5233]

If you have your private keys stored safely then no need to worry. You can claim Bitcoin gold later when the dust settles. Wallets like Electrum, Mycelium, jaxx, blockchain are all safe and don't store in anything in exchanges like Bittrex, Coinbase etc because you don't hold your private keys.

[Aura]

If you have your private key stored, you're perfectly fine.
You can import this any moment in any Bitcoin wallet client, make sure it is verified safe. You can find a whole list here: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet. So uninstalling won't be a problem as long as you have your private key stored. The fork can not accidentally change your BTC to BTG, the fork is a copy of Bitcoin's current blockchain which will split after 25 October. Every BTC you have now will correspond to one BTG. Both wallets will have the same private key, so make sure you import it to a verified BTG client. Otherwise your key can get stolen. A good solution for this is sending your BTC to a new wallet after 25 October and then importing the old wallet key in a BTG client. The safest wallet is just personal preference, Armory is in my opinion the safest wallet. But it is quite complicated. Electrum or Core are more user friendly.

That seems to be a prett good point to me about sending your BTC to a newly generated address after a fork, one other small point, that may or may not be practical is, if possible to avoid making transactions around the time of the fork.

You're right, I forgot to mention that.
To make sure you don't lose your forked coins, wait at least 12 hours after the work.
After that it's totally safe.

[limopc]

If you have your private key stored, you're perfectly fine.
You can import this any moment in any Bitcoin wallet client, make sure it is verified safe. You can find a whole list here: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet. So uninstalling won't be a problem as long as you have your private key stored. The fork can not accidentally change your BTC to BTG, the fork is a copy of Bitcoin's current blockchain which will split after 25 October. Every BTC you have now will correspond to one BTG. Both wallets will have the same private key, so make sure you import it to a verified BTG client. Otherwise your key can get stolen. A good solution for this is sending your BTC to a new wallet after 25 October and then importing the old wallet key in a BTG client. The safest wallet is just personal preference, Armory is in my opinion the safest wallet. But it is quite complicated. Electrum or Core are more user friendly.

That seems to be a prett good point to me about sending your BTC to a newly generated address after a fork, one other small point, that may or may not be practical is, if possible to avoid making transactions around the time of the fork.

You're right, I forgot to mention that.
To make sure you don't lose your forked coins, wait at least 12 hours after the work.
After that it's totally safe.

Sounds ok, but I read that wallets automatically follow the “longest”  blockchain, does this mean that my wallet can decide on its own that my coins are BTG not BTC? How to be sure then after the fork if I buy BTC on local bitcoins and send the purchased BTC to my wallet it will come in my wallet as BTC not BTG?

Any further clarification is highly appreciated.

[aardvark15]

Just wondering, as I am reading a lot about Fork risks especially with bitcoin gold.

I have the private keys (the 12 words) safely stored.

What if I simply uninstall the wallet that has my BTC (it is Jaxx by the way) before the fork, then reinstall later and recover from the 12 keywords. Would that be ok or will be risk?

Would my BTC remain BTC or can accidentally be changed to BTG?

What safest wallet?

Your help highly appreciated.

My understanding is that if you hold the private keys, your Bitcoins should be secure no matter what. Also, owning the private keys should ensure that you will be able to claim Bitcoin Gold if you choose to do so (and if you follow the appropriate steps to claim them). This is as opposed to having your Bitcoins in an exchange that holds your private keys. They could just keep those Bitcoin Gold coins for themselves or they could let you claim them. It depends on that exchange's policy.

[limopc]

Thanks,

I have my 12 word with me and I am not using any exchange, I buy from localbitcoins and instantly transfer to Jaxx.

So, I don’t have to worry about what blockchain the wallet deals with?

What is what I am reading about wallet following longest blockchains?

[limopc]

Thanks,

I have my 12 word with me and I am not using any exchange, I buy from localbitcoins and instantly transfer to Jaxx.

So, I don’t have to worry about what blockchain the wallet deals with?

What is what I am reading about wallet following longest blockchains?

Is that ok?

[salihno71]

SegWit2x doesn't have replay protection! This means that if you import your private key into the new 2x wallet and send your 2x coins to some address you could lose the original bitcoins from same address on original chain. If you want to do anything with 2x coins, make sure that before you do any transaction on 2x chain, you move your bitcoins to the new address. This way should be safe.

[savioroshan]

These two forks have created a lot of confusion among the bitcoin users. As far as I know, your coins would be safe if you store it in any wallet that allows you to hold the private keys by yourself. This means mostly all desktop wallets are ok for storing your coins like electrum because you have the control of your coins where as in online wallets you don't have the control of your coins because you don't have the private keys . That's it.

[limopc]

SegWit2x doesn't have replay protection! This means that if you import your private key into the new 2x wallet and send your 2x coins to some address you could lose the original bitcoins from same address on original chain. If you want to do anything with 2x coins, make sure that before you do any transaction on 2x chain, you move your bitcoins to the new address. This way should be safe.

Thanks. At this stage I don’t seem interested in importing my private keys, my BTC is already there in Jaxx.

But how would I know if any update to Jaxx is not adopting the new 2x?
If Jaxx did it, what can I do?

What do you mean moving my coins to a new address? Send them to myself same wallet or another wallet? Or import my jaxx wallet to another wallet? Before or after the fork?

Never felt lost like that before in my life.

[limopc]

These two forks have created a lot of confusion among the bitcoin users. As far as I know, your coins would be safe if you store it in any wallet that allows you to hold the private keys by yourself. This means mostly all desktop wallets are ok for storing your coins like electrum because you have the control of your coins where as in online wallets you don't have the control of your coins because you don't have the private keys . That's it.

Hell with forks... I have my private keys, but I am reading a lot. So far, even what I read from the original BTC developers is to be summarised as “we don’t really know what’s going to happen after the fork”

If they don’t know, how come I can know!?

[limopc]

Sorry. I don’t mean any offence to developers or to anybody.

I’m jus feeling lost and risking mone to just vanish, and I don’t even know how it may vanish.

I am investing for long term, but... somebody has to come out with a clear, precise, simple answer...

I am just one of millions of users I am sure they are having the same worries and questions...

Hope to hear something... positive or even negative, but clear and concrete...

[Aura]

If you have your private key stored, you're perfectly fine.
You can import this any moment in any Bitcoin wallet client, make sure it is verified safe. You can find a whole list here: https://bitcoin.org/en/choose-your-wallet. So uninstalling won't be a problem as long as you have your private key stored. The fork can not accidentally change your BTC to BTG, the fork is a copy of Bitcoin's current blockchain which will split after 25 October. Every BTC you have now will correspond to one BTG. Both wallets will have the same private key, so make sure you import it to a verified BTG client. Otherwise your key can get stolen. A good solution for this is sending your BTC to a new wallet after 25 October and then importing the old wallet key in a BTG client. The safest wallet is just personal preference, Armory is in my opinion the safest wallet. But it is quite complicated. Electrum or Core are more user friendly.

That seems to be a prett good point to me about sending your BTC to a newly generated address after a fork, one other small point, that may or may not be practical is, if possible to avoid making transactions around the time of the fork.

You're right, I forgot to mention that.
To make sure you don't lose your forked coins, wait at least 12 hours after the work.
After that it's totally safe.

Sounds ok, but I read that wallets automatically follow the “longest”  blockchain, does this mean that my wallet can decide on its own that my coins are BTG not BTC? How to be sure then after the fork if I buy BTC on local bitcoins and send the purchased BTC to my wallet it will come in my wallet as BTC not BTG?

Any further clarification is highly appreciated.

No, it doesn't. However you're right about the proof of work, it's a way of confirming validity of a ledger without a central authority (decentralization). The thing is what you say is correct but you're missing the point of the 'split'. After 25 October, Bitcoin Gold will have it's own Blockchain. This Blockchain will work on the same principal as Bitcoin, following the longest chain. But it won't interact with the original Bitcoin Legacy chain. Bitcoin gold will just be a new altcoin but with a big amount of coins already distributed, because it started with a copy of Bitcoin's Blockchain. You don't really have to worry about getting the wrong coin. If you buy BTC and the seller really sends you that coin than you will get it, because a different 'thing' is sent. If I send you a brick, it will not suddenly change to wood when you get it.

[NUFCrichard]

Sorry. I don’t mean any offence to developers or to anybody.

I’m jus feeling lost and risking mone to just vanish, and I don’t even know how it may vanish.

I am investing for long term, but... somebody has to come out with a clear, precise, simple answer...

I am just one of millions of users I am sure they are having the same worries and questions...

Hope to hear something... positive or even negative, but clear and concrete...

Do nothing and your coins are perfectly safe.
With Bitcoin Gold you can separate your Bitcoin and Bitcoin gold fairly easily, just send your bitcoin to a new bitcoin address, then send the bitcoin gold (that will have remained in your old address) to a Bitcoin Gold address.

With the Segwit 2x stuff, there is no replay protection. Don't move your coins after the segwit fork, or you could lose one of the coins. Assuming the chains grow at different speeds after the fork, you will be able to split them later, but it would be best to wait and see how and when you should move them. 

If for some reason you have to send coins soon afterwards, send the more expensive coin (most probably core coin) to a suitable more expensive coin wallet. At least you would only lose the cheaper of the coins!

[farhaan]

Well,bitcoin gold hard fork would be getting much little importance than bitcoin cash.Until now,no exchange or wallet have announced their support officially for bitcoin gold.

Without support of exchanges or wallets,there can't be an airdrop.No service provider is ready to touch this BTG.But in the case of bitcoin cash,bittrex first officially announced its support.Then,kraken announced its support.But this time,situation seems quite different.

I think that this time,bitcoin holders who want some free coins would get disappointed.

[1Referee]

Well,bitcoin gold hard fork would be getting much little importance than bitcoin cash.Until now,no exchange or wallet have announced their support officially for bitcoin gold.

Without support of exchanges or wallets,there can't be an airdrop.No service provider is ready to touch this BTG.But in the case of bitcoin cash,bittrex first officially announced its support.Then,kraken announced its support.But this time,situation seems quite different.

I think that this time,bitcoin holders who want some free coins would get disappointed.

Exchanges will definitely list BG, no doubt about it. It's an altcoin that especially in its initial stage will generate huge loads of volume, and there is no way exchanges will not look to scoop up all these trading fees. It's money in the bank for them. Wallet services are a bit different in terms of adopting newer altcoins, but if they see there is demand coming from the community in order to make whatever wallet service list BG, they will do so. It's all about supply and demand in this market, which shouldn't be a surprise to anyone.

[Casabrandy]

Well,bitcoin gold hard fork would be getting much little importance than bitcoin cash.Until now,no exchange or wallet have announced their support officially for bitcoin gold.

Without support of exchanges or wallets,there can't be an airdrop.No service provider is ready to touch this BTG.But in the case of bitcoin cash,bittrex first officially announced its support.Then,kraken announced its support.But this time,situation seems quite different.

I think that this time,bitcoin holders who want some free coins would get disappointed.

well thinking of it,there is no thread created for this topic yet regarding exchange, naybe next will hear some. For now the btc value were seems atable meaning many were into holding at the moment until fork.

[daberti]

Do nothing and your coins are perfectly safe.
With Bitcoin Gold you can separate your Bitcoin and Bitcoin gold fairly easily, just send your bitcoin to a new bitcoin address, then send the bitcoin gold (that will have remained in your old address) to a Bitcoin Gold address.

With the Segwit 2x stuff, there is no replay protection. Don't move your coins after the segwit fork, or you could lose one of the coins. Assuming the chains grow at different speeds after the fork, you will be able to split them later, but it would be best to wait and see how and when you should move them. 

If for some reason you have to send coins soon afterwards, send the more expensive coin (most probably core coin) to a suitable more expensive coin wallet. At least you would only lose the cheaper of the coins!

So, let's limit to the old address. How to spot it out which are BTC and which BTG?

[spadormie]

Just wondering, as I am reading a lot about Fork risks especially with bitcoin gold.

I have the private keys (the 12 words) safely stored.

What if I simply uninstall the wallet that has my BTC (it is Jaxx by the way) before the fork, then reinstall later and recover from the 12 keywords. Would that be ok or will be risk?

Would my BTC remain BTC or can accidentally be changed to BTG?

What safest wallet?

Your help highly appreciated.

Dude, you do not need to uninstall and reinstall the wallet for the sake of being safe. The fork is like this, you have money put it in your wallet and let a security check your wallet and double it. But without any keys or private key, that security guard can't customize your wallet. He can't control it. He cannot get the funds and etc.

[limopc]

Thanks guys for clarification.

I wonder why the BTC developers does not issue a formal declaration stating or summarising the above, that:
1. Your bitcoins will remain bitcoins, just keep them in a wallet where you keep private keys.
2. Don’t send or receive bitcoins during the period from xxx till yyy or till further notice.

Just to clarify for the users the situation, instead of focusing on the cons of BTG and it’s lack of replay protection which might cause you lose BTC to scare away people from BTG? It is actually scaring away people fro BTC as well..

This is my understanding to what’s happening now.. I might be wrong... but I am sure millions of bitcoiners are asking and worried the same as me...

An official statement or whatever from core BTC developers as above mentioned would help I think.

[limopc]

Is it right if I conclude that:

“If you have your BTC in a wallet with your private keys and you do not try to claim the BTG you are 100% safe and you can send and receive, buy and sell BTC as usual, as if there is no BTG”