Do Bitcoin Owners exist on both blockchains?

[matrix01]

Fellow forum members,
I remember hearing something about a Bitcoin Cash offer which allowed one to claim Bitcoin Cash coins for Bitcoins. It was being called free money. If five years from now it turns out Bitcoin Cash soars to $50,000 and the original Bitcoin is dying a slow death and the price is $1,000 five years from now will this trade offer of one coin for the other coin still be possible? In other words, does the Bitcoin Cash blockchain history include a record of my bitcoin and therefore would I be able to cash it in for a $50,000 Bitcoin Cash coin five years from now? Or will a $1,000 Bitcoin five years from now only buy me $1,000 worth of Bitcoin Cash five years from now?  In short, do Bitcoin owners exist on both the Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash blockchain and therefore the value of our money is protected? I hope someone can clarify this concern I have. Thanks in advance.

[skza62]

Hello,
I am a french, so excuse me for my english. During the fork of Bitcoin creating Bitcoin cash in August. All people possessing bitcoins just before the fork, had in addition to their bitcoin the equivalent in bitcoin cash. It's not one in place of the other. We have both. However, a method must be applied to recover them. This is true if your bitcoins were in paper waller, bitcoin core, some wallets and some sites. Where were your bitcoins when the fork took place?
Have a good day.

[HeRetiK]

If you have access to the private key of a BTC address or the recovery seed of a BTC wallet that held BTC at time of the BCH fork, you can split your coins whenever you want. Your BCH won't "expire" in any way and they will remain associated with your BTC / BCH address until you decide to move your BCH to a new address -- even if you have meanwhile transferred your BTC to somewhere else.

Caveat: If you manually split your BCH from your BTC it is recommended to move your BTC to a new wallet first, to avoid a potential compromise of your BTC stash.

[matrix01]

If you have access to the private key of a BTC address or the recovery seed of a BTC wallet that held BTC at time of the BCH fork, you can split your coins whenever you want. Your BCH won't "expire" in any way and they will remain associated with your BTC / BCH address until you decide to move your BCH to a new address -- even if you have meanwhile transferred your BTC to somewhere else.

Caveat: If you manually split your BCH from your BTC it is recommended to move your BTC to a new wallet first, to avoid a potential compromise of your BTC stash.

Skza62,
Thanks for your post. When the Bitcoin Cash fork happened my bitcoins were stored in cold storage with Armory wallet software. I have still not done anything relating to claiming my BCH coins using my BTC coins because my Armory software has not been updated for 3 years. All I do is just keep my blockchain up to date using Bitcoin Core client software. I don't open my Armory software because as I mentioned it has not been updated for 3 years.  You mention we have both BTC and BCH for those owning Bitcoin before the fork. Does this mean 5 years from now if Bitcoin Cash is at $50,000 and Bitcoin is at $1,000 I could legally claim a $50,000 Bitcoin Cash with my single Bitcoin. Or would I only be entitled to a fraction of a Bitcoin Cash coin valued at $1,000?  I got my Bitcoins around 2013 and was advised to store them in Armory. I did just that, and have not done anything with them because I don't have the time to keep up with the Armory updates. But now I'm going to make the time to update my Armory.

HeRetiK,
I have private keys engraved into a piece of steel which is not as delicate as a piece of paper. You say my BCH will not expire. What I would really like to know relates to the future value of one coin over the other.  If five years from now the value of Bitcoin tanks to $1,000 and Bitcoin Cash is at $50,000 does it really mean I lost $49,000 because Bitcoin devaluation?

I hope someone out there can clarify this devalation concern I have of one coin over the other and whether I need to move my Bitcoins around to combat future devaluation.  Any comments will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

[no0dlepunk]

Before august 1st, my bitcoins were placed in a hardware ledger and it was upgraded to support the BCH block chain. Same amount of BCH and BTC were minted and it seems like they coexist on a same blockchain at first, they fall having the same wallet address until I selected the "split" button. If 5 years from now you haven't touched your wallet yet then probably the answer to your question is - yes.

[skza62]

Does this mean 5 years from now if Bitcoin Cash is at $50,000 and Bitcoin is at $1,000 I could legally claim a $50,000 Bitcoin Cash with my single Bitcoin.

YES

If you have 0.75 bitcoin, you have 0.75 bitcoin cash. If in 5 years, 1 bitcoin is worth 10$ and a BCH is worth 50,000$, you will have for sale:
0.75 x 10$ of bitcoin AND 0.75 x 50,000$  of BCH.

[HeRetiK]

[...] 

If five years from now the value of Bitcoin tanks to $1,000 and Bitcoin Cash is at $50,000 does it really mean I lost $49,000 because Bitcoin devaluation?

I hope someone out there can clarify this devalation concern I have of one coin over the other and whether I need to move my Bitcoins around to combat future devaluation.  Any comments will be greatly appreciated.  Thanks in advance.

5 years from now 1 BTC will still be 1 BTC and 1 BCH will still be 1 BCH. How much they are worth in relation to each other, or how much they will be worth in USD is anyones guess and has nothing to do with whether you keep the coins on the same address or move them around. After all you're not storing USD or EUR or JPY in your wallet, only BTC and BCH. That's it. You don't lose or gain anything in USD terms until you have either sold the coins or used them as payment.