[2017-10-23] Bittrex Issues Official Statement About Bitcoin Gold, Warns Users

[ivanpoldark]

Bittrex, the US-based Bitcoin and altcoin exchange has announced its official position on Bitcoin Gold. The exchange, widely regarded as a substantial player in the marketplace, had previously hesitated issuing a formal statement.

However, with the hard fork just a short time away, Bittrex has finally clarified its position on the coming fork. Per the statement, Bittrex will perform a ‘wallet snapshot’ at the time of the hard fork, which will occur at block 491,407. At that time, each BTC will receive an equivalent BTG. According to the statement:

    “If you have a Bitcoin (BTC) balance on Bittrex during the BTG snapshot block 491,407 occurring approximately on October 24, 3am PT (10am UTC), you will be additionally credited the equivalent amount of Bitcoin Gold (BTG) on a 1:1 basis. i.e. 1 BTC on Bittrex held during the on-exchange snapshot will get you 1 BTG.  BTC held on orders will also be credited.  Only the BTC held on your account is eligible for BTG.”

Warnings

The exchange’s statement gave users a number of warnings about the forthcoming Bitcoin Gold currency. To wit:

    “Bitcoin Gold does not currently have:

        -Fully formed consensus code

        -Implemented replay protection

        -Adequate code for testing and auditing

        -Publicly known code developers

    Bitcoin Gold codebase also contains a private premine of 8,000 blocks (100,000 BTG). Please be aware that if a market does open there is a possibility of the developers selling their premined BTG on the open market.”

Bittrex noted that Bitcoin Gold does not meet the necessary requirements to be listed on its exchange. They also pointed out that taking a snapshot of user balances is extremely disruptive and they will have to suspend all deposits and withdrawals 24 hours before the snapshot is taken.

Nevertheless, in spite of Bittrex’s reservations about the currency and the difficulty involved in creating the snapshot, the exchange appears committed to ensuring its users receive the appropriate amount of Bitcoin Gold.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bittrex-issues-official-statement-about-bitcoin-gold-warns-users

[Karartma1]

Bitcoin Gold codebase also contains a private premine of 8,000 blocks (100,000 BTG)

A very good reason to dump it hard.
At least BitcoinCash did no premine scam. I remember these bitcoingold guys talking ICO at the beginning. They changed their mind many times and now here's the "small" catch.
Beware.

[veleten]

Yobit is already trading bitcoin gold (BTG) no problem
the price is around 0.078 at the time of the post:



so all the warnings and concerns are just the pretexts to not bother
with the wallets and bitcoin deposits holds etc.

[Iranus]

Yobit is already trading bitcoin gold (BTG) no problem
the price is around 0.078 at the time of the post:

YoBit was trading it before the fork even happened.  Considering that they're an extremely dodgy exchange, it's no surprise that they would open up trading before anyone else, thus leaving BTG up for market manipulation.  

A similar situation happened with Bitcoin Cash when they listed it too early and it was sold at an inflated price.
Bittrex's warnings here are completely reasonable and professional.  "Bitcoin Gold" is only receiving attention because it is a fork, not because of any actual merit to the project.

While people on here kept saying that SegWit2x and BACH are money grabs, they are blatantly incorrect as they are functioning forks which do change relevant parts of code.  This, on the other hand, is a money grab.

[veleten]

Yobit is already trading bitcoin gold (BTG) no problem
the price is around 0.078 at the time of the post:

YoBit was trading it before the fork even happened.  Considering that they're an extremely dodgy exchange, it's no surprise that they would open up trading before anyone else, thus leaving BTG up for market manipulation.  

A similar situation happened with Bitcoin Cash when they listed it too early and it was sold at an inflated price.
Bittrex's warnings here are completely reasonable and professional.  "Bitcoin Gold" is only receiving attention because it is a fork, not because of any actual merit to the project.

While people on here kept saying that SegWit2x and BACH are money grabs, they are blatantly incorrect as they are functioning forks which do change relevant parts of code.  This, on the other hand, is a money grab.

it looks like it,also their main site being down on the day of the fork,just so unprofessional
if you cannot protect your site and give a valid roadmap and can't answer questions about replay protection
many other ANDs,including not having a wallet up until the last moments etc.
so if you get your hands on BTG just dump it

[cryptosipi]

Bittrex, the US-based Bitcoin and altcoin exchange has announced its official position on Bitcoin Gold. The exchange, widely regarded as a substantial player in the marketplace, had previously hesitated issuing a formal statement.

However, with the hard fork just a short time away, Bittrex has finally clarified its position on the coming fork. Per the statement, Bittrex will perform a ‘wallet snapshot’ at the time of the hard fork, which will occur at block 491,407. At that time, each BTC will receive an equivalent BTG. According to the statement:

    “If you have a Bitcoin (BTC) balance on Bittrex during the BTG snapshot block 491,407 occurring approximately on October 24, 3am PT (10am UTC), you will be additionally credited the equivalent amount of Bitcoin Gold (BTG) on a 1:1 basis. i.e. 1 BTC on Bittrex held during the on-exchange snapshot will get you 1 BTG.  BTC held on orders will also be credited.  Only the BTC held on your account is eligible for BTG.”

Warnings

The exchange’s statement gave users a number of warnings about the forthcoming Bitcoin Gold currency. To wit:

    “Bitcoin Gold does not currently have:

        -Fully formed consensus code

        -Implemented replay protection

        -Adequate code for testing and auditing

        -Publicly known code developers

    Bitcoin Gold codebase also contains a private premine of 8,000 blocks (100,000 BTG). Please be aware that if a market does open there is a possibility of the developers selling their premined BTG on the open market.”

Bittrex noted that Bitcoin Gold does not meet the necessary requirements to be listed on its exchange. They also pointed out that taking a snapshot of user balances is extremely disruptive and they will have to suspend all deposits and withdrawals 24 hours before the snapshot is taken.

Nevertheless, in spite of Bittrex’s reservations about the currency and the difficulty involved in creating the snapshot, the exchange appears committed to ensuring its users receive the appropriate amount of Bitcoin Gold.

https://cointelegraph.com/news/bittrex-issues-official-statement-about-bitcoin-gold-warns-users

if we can omit the warnings its actually a good news and we hope that a new market will open in bittrex also.
I personaly donot trust youbit thats why not dumping my coins to it.
Right now i am holding my coins in electrum wallet.
But i hope by the november 1st BTG will short out their issues.

[tiggytomb]

Yobit will list anything if they think they can earn fees from it.  Bittrex has done the right thing by giving bitcoin gold and also making users aware of the sketchiness of the coin.

[Karakyli]

The bittrex exchange acted correctly, having warned its clients about the defects of the new coin bitcoin gold and decided to still bargain with this coin, although earlier, as far as I know, she stated that she would not support the new bitcoin gold coin. Developers bitcoin gold declare that by November 1 this coin will become more open and, I hope that many of its vulnerabilities will be eliminated.

[veleten]

Yobit will list anything if they think they can earn fees from it.  Bittrex has done the right thing by giving bitcoin gold and also making users aware of the sketchiness of the coin.

Yobit is trading BTG at 0.04 already,its almost a 50% fall from 0.078 start
doesn't look like the coin has bright future and compared to Bitcoin Cash it is a very unprofessional and badly prepared fork
hell,they do not even have mainnet ready,just the blockchain snapshot,no way to actually,recieve the coins over than
have your coins at one of the exchanges that supported BTG at the time of the fork (Yobit,Hitbit and a couple more)
guess we should wait a couple of months before we are able to recieve the coins and by that time it will cost like 0.01 ,so not worth the hassle

[Iranus]

Yobit is trading BTG at 0.04 already,its almost a 50% fall from 0.078 start

It seems unlikely that the majority of BTG coins have already been split from BTC and moved.  The amount of coins that could be increasing the supply on these exchanges over the coming weeks is absolutely ridiculous, so I highly doubt that the price will stay even close to what it is now.

In fact, the 24 hour volume for Bitcoin Gold is so much lower than BTC that it's pretty much negligible, perhaps because the majority of people aren't even able to get it yet.

There doesn't seem to be any full node or even lightweight Electrum-like wallet on their website, so where does this coin even exist other than in their fat pockets and on some exchanges?
Anyway, someone's still buying it for all these people to sell, so I suppose some people will just buy anything.

[Pumperdumper]

Yobit is trading BTG at 0.04 already,its almost a 50% fall from 0.078 start

It seems unlikely that the majority of BTG coins have already been split from BTC and moved.  The amount of coins that could be increasing the supply on these exchanges over the coming weeks is absolutely ridiculous, so I highly doubt that the price will stay even close to what it is now.

In fact, the 24 hour volume for Bitcoin Gold is so much lower than BTC that it's pretty much negligible, perhaps because the majority of people aren't even able to get it yet.

There doesn't seem to be any full node or even lightweight Electrum-like wallet on their website, so where does this coin even exist other than in their fat pockets and on some exchanges?
Anyway, someone's still buying it for all these people to sell, so I suppose some people will just buy anything.

Been trading it for the last 48 hours - made some good cash and then lost it all last night.

BTG trend looks very similar to this graph

https://www.stocktrader.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/11/dryships.png


I think they are doing the best they can to keep it alive - hence why it was so steady for the last 5 hours. However with no eco-system this is a short term hold.

If you are going to make any money, get in sub 110 and sell whenever you get a chance.

[rjbtc2017]

According to BTG site they already implemented a replay protection., so what is the truth here? Or it will be activated after the activation of BTG blockchain servers on November 1?

[Pumperdumper]

According to BTG site they already implemented a replay protection., so what is the truth here? Or it will be activated after the activation of BTG blockchain servers on November 1?

No - according to their site they have 4-5 tasks ETA end of October

https://bitcoingold.org/bitcoin-gold-dev-update-1/

Bitcoin Gold Dev Update #1
Oct 26, 2017 | Development, Technical
This post will be an update of the recent development progress and next steps that are required before the full mainnet launch. We have taken a snapshot of the Bitcoin blockchain after height 491406 and are now in the final stages of preparation for the launch of the Bitcoin Gold mainnet, which will begin with block 491407. The Equihash PoW change and new difficulty adjustment algorithm have already been completed and merged, and a DNSSeeder has been set up. There are other key tasks in progress, all on course to be completed within in a few weeks, according to our best estimate.
Completed
Equihash PoW change
Difficulty adjustment algorithm
Setup DNSSeeder
In progress
Unique address format
ETA: Oct 27
PR: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/80
Instead of address prefix “1” and “3” for Bitcoin, we choose “G” and “d” for Bitcoin Gold P2PKH and P2SH addresses. This is done by changing the address version to 39 (P2PKH) and 90 (P2SH). The address version for testnet and regtest are not changed. The code change is trivial but more test cases are needed.
 
SIGHASH_FORK_ID Replay Protection
ETA: Oct 31
PR 1: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/55
PR 2: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/83
We are working on the same 2-way replay protection as Bitcoin Cash. Currently we have two implementations. PR1 is from our dev team and PR2 is from an anonymous person seeking the bounty. The two implementations are roughly the same but both need improvements on testing.
The original intention to make a bounty for it was to find more devs to speed up the development and get more feedback. However a competing implementation is also welcome because we can be more confident by comparing them. So no matter which PR is finally merged, we are happy to see that the anonymous author can get the bounty.
Testing is always more important than coding for this kind of feature. We can’t rush to merge the code until it has been fully tested. So we may need a few days to test until we can be fully confident in it.
 
Adopt BTG mining protocol for pool server
ETA: Oct 29
Issue: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/issues/37
The new block header  format is designed for existing Zcash pool and miners. BTG client is mostly compatible with them but according to ZIP-1, some minor changes are still needed in the pool servers. More specifically, the first 4 bytes of hashReserved field should store the block height rather than zeros.
 
Merge other minor changes
ETA: Oct 31
Support premine output whitelist (PR: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/79)
Enforce time lock for premined coins (pending, tracking issue: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/issues/58)
Improve build experience and kill TravisCI failures.
 
Deploy Testnet Full Node
Testnet will be launched as soon as the unique address format and replay protection is merged. We have already launched a few testing nodes locally to test the p2p network and successfully mined a few Equihash blocks. But be aware, this is not the public testnet. It’s just a temporary local test.
BTG nodes can talk to regular Bitcoin nodes to download the original chain (before the fork height). However it’s just designed for bootstrapping the BTG p2p network. We will manually bootstrap a BTG full node from the Bitcoin network by downloading pre-fork blocks. After that, the magic number of released BTG client will be changed so that all they will sync from the bootstrapping node and won’t talk to Bitcoin p2p network anymore.
We are providing everyday updates on the development process and the work of the team. They will be posted here and on Twitter.

[Benezim]

No - according to their site they have 4-5 tasks ETA end of October

https://bitcoingold.org/bitcoin-gold-dev-update-1/

SIGHASH_FORK_ID Replay Protection
ETA: Oct 31
PR 1: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/55
PR 2: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/83
We are working on the same 2-way replay protection as Bitcoin Cash. Currently we have two implementations. PR1 is from our dev team and PR2 is from an anonymous person seeking the bounty. The two implementations are roughly the same but both need improvements on testing.
The original intention to make a bounty for it was to find more devs to speed up the development and get more feedback. However a competing implementation is also welcome because we can be more confident by comparing them. So no matter which PR is finally merged, we are happy to see that the anonymous author can get the bounty.
Testing is always more important than coding for this kind of feature. We can’t rush to merge the code until it has been fully tested. So we may need a few days to test until we can be fully confident in it.

[/quote]

I hope they take their time and come up with something that the Bitcoin developer community is comfortable with. trezor has clearly stated that they will not make Bitcoin Gold available for their users, until replay protection is properly implemented. I, for one, had my funds in trezor at the time of the snapshot, and I can wait.

[veleten]

No - according to their site they have 4-5 tasks ETA end of October

https://bitcoingold.org/bitcoin-gold-dev-update-1/

SIGHASH_FORK_ID Replay Protection
ETA: Oct 31
PR 1: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/55
PR 2: https://github.com/BTCGPU/BTCGPU/pull/83
We are working on the same 2-way replay protection as Bitcoin Cash. Currently we have two implementations. PR1 is from our dev team and PR2 is from an anonymous person seeking the bounty. The two implementations are roughly the same but both need improvements on testing.
The original intention to make a bounty for it was to find more devs to speed up the development and get more feedback. However a competing implementation is also welcome because we can be more confident by comparing them. So no matter which PR is finally merged, we are happy to see that the anonymous author can get the bounty.
Testing is always more important than coding for this kind of feature. We can’t rush to merge the code until it has been fully tested. So we may need a few days to test until we can be fully confident in it.

I hope they take their time and come up with something that the Bitcoin developer community is comfortable with. trezor has clearly stated that they will not make Bitcoin Gold available for their users, until replay protection is properly implemented. I, for one, had my funds in trezor at the time of the snapshot, and I can wait.
[/quote]

they don't have much at the moment,only a few exchanges are "trading" Bitcoin Gold which doesn't even exist yet
as there is no main net to speak of,people cannot claim their coins from the majority of the wallets
without properly working replay protection this could turn into mightmare
and once they do claim and sell,the price will go down even more
they hoped to repeat Bitcoin Cash model with GPU decentralised idea,but their team is weaker,obviously

[xPPx]

I'm just waiting on 01NIV17 and replay protection so that I can dump BitcoinGold. It seems way too scammy. I usually hold all coins until I'm in a financial jam, but there is no way that BTG increases in value IMHO...

[Pumperdumper]

I'm just waiting on 01NIV17 and replay protection so that I can dump BitcoinGold. It seems way too scammy. I usually hold all coins until I'm in a financial jam, but there is no way that BTG increases in value IMHO...

Actually it can increase - what you are seeing with BCH can happen with BTG

Because they are forks, they are the exact same thing. So if the team implements what they are aiming (replay protection, get listed on more exchanges, wallet updates, increase vendor usage) they can siphon off profit from BTC.

Think of what BTG did as an ICO without having to do all of the ICO checklist of promoting the product. The bigger that BTC gets the more their fees become, the less daily implementation there is the more these hard fork spin offs gain from what BTC loses.

[CyberKuro]

BTG hard fork seems nothing to bitcoiners, nothing significant and serious so far due to after bitcoin gold hardfork, its website came under ddos attack. BTG developers claim to re-decentralized mining industry of bitcoin, or in this case mining BTG (altcoin), and they mentioned to distribute BTG on November 1st, if that's true then we will wait until tomorrow. But, I don't have any clue to claim btg, maybe through coinomi wallet, as there is an article mentioned: Collecting your free Bitcoin Gold ($BTG) coins with Coinomi https://medium.com/@coinomi/collecting-your-free-bitcoin-gold-btg-coins-da937d4255d1
Looks like they are working on replay protection as well.
working on the same 2-way replay protection as Bitcoin Cash. Currently we have two implementations. PR1 is from our dev team and PR2 is from an anonymous person seeking the bounty. The two implementations are roughly the same but both need improvements on testing. https://bitcoingold.org/bitcoin-gold-dev-update-1/

[veleten]

BTG hard fork seems nothing to bitcoiners, nothing significant and serious so far due to after bitcoin gold hardfork, its website came under ddos attack. BTG developers claim to re-decentralized mining industry of bitcoin, or in this case mining BTG (altcoin), and they mentioned to distribute BTG on November 1st, if that's true then we will wait until tomorrow. But, I don't have any clue to claim btg, maybe through coinomi wallet, as there is an article mentioned: Collecting your free Bitcoin Gold ($BTG) coins with Coinomi https://medium.com/@coinomi/collecting-your-free-bitcoin-gold-btg-coins-da937d4255d1
Looks like they are working on replay protection as well.
working on the same 2-way replay protection as Bitcoin Cash. Currently we have two implementations. PR1 is from our dev team and PR2 is from an anonymous person seeking the bounty. The two implementations are roughly the same but both need improvements on testing. https://bitcoingold.org/bitcoin-gold-dev-update-1/

they don't have anything but several exchanges trading BTG coins they supported from the get go
they do not have the main net,no way to claim the coins,no replay protection,no team to make it happen it seems
and all the hassle for 0.01 or so (0.02 trading bitcoin-gitcoin gold,but I expect the price to plummet as soon as the free coins flood the market)
it makes me regret NOT keeping my coins at Yobit,haha
they were crediting BTG first and traded them 0.10 and 0.08 for quite some time
and yeah people were buying them at that price too!

[xFiber]

BTG hard fork seems nothing to bitcoiners, nothing significant and serious so far due to after bitcoin gold hardfork, its website came under ddos attack. BTG developers claim to re-decentralized mining industry of bitcoin, or in this case mining BTG (altcoin), and they mentioned to distribute BTG on November 1st, if that's true then we will wait until tomorrow. But, I don't have any clue to claim btg, maybe through coinomi wallet, as there is an article mentioned: Collecting your free Bitcoin Gold ($BTG) coins with Coinomi https://medium.com/@coinomi/collecting-your-free-bitcoin-gold-btg-coins-da937d4255d1
Looks like they are working on replay protection as well.
working on the same 2-way replay protection as Bitcoin Cash. Currently we have two implementations. PR1 is from our dev team and PR2 is from an anonymous person seeking the bounty. The two implementations are roughly the same but both need improvements on testing. https://bitcoingold.org/bitcoin-gold-dev-update-1/

they don't have anything but several exchanges trading BTG coins they supported from the get go
they do not have the main net,no way to claim the coins,no replay protection,no team to make it happen it seems
and all the hassle for 0.01 or so (0.02 trading bitcoin-gitcoin gold,but I expect the price to plummet as soon as the free coins flood the market)
it makes me regret NOT keeping my coins at Yobit,haha
they were crediting BTG first and traded them 0.10 and 0.08 for quite some time
and yeah people were buying them at that price too!

I intentially kept my a portion of my trading coins on bittrex to take advantage of the statement posted in the original post. Only to find out that they haven't credited my account within the first seven days of the fork. Therefore I missed out on a decent trading price. Even without all the 'free' coins the price has plummeted to 130-ish dollars, only a bargain of bitcoins' price (rallying up to $6400 at the moment of writing this post).