LoyceV's Bitcoin Fork claiming guide (and service)

[Gorilla22]

Trezor also delisted BSV. They say it was causing potential security risk.
Ledger claims they support BSV, but when you search their list of supported coins, then no BSV there. Probably also delisted.

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[LoyceV]

Trezor also delisted BSV. They say it was causing potential security risk.
Ledger claims they support BSV, but when you search their list of supported coins, then no BSV there. Probably also delisted.

They're right: don't trust them

[Gorilla22]

When I discovered that there were so many bitcoin forks, and forks of forks, I realized that I wanted a full collection of them :-) So I got  motivation not only get some money from forks, but also collect forks. It's a kind of irrational motivation, just like collecting physical coins for numismatic purposes.
Do I understand correct that some forks can be claimed solely through their own wallet, and this can be done only provided you have synced the whole blockchain, so this is the very reason why claiming some forks (such forks) takes a lot of time?

[LoyceV]

I wanted a full collection of them :-) So I got  motivation not only get some money from forks, but also collect forks. It's a kind of irrational motivation, just like collecting physical coins for numismatic purposes.

It's more like collecting garbage. Trash made by scammers to trick people into sending them money.

Do I understand correct that some forks can be claimed solely through their own wallet, and this can be done only provided you have synced the whole blockchain, so this is the very reason why claiming some forks (such forks) takes a lot of time?

Technically, when you have the original private key that had a balance at the moment it Forked, you have all Forks already. But to use them, you will indeed need a wallet that supports them.

[dollarday]

This was very helpful in checking in on old wallets and sweeping them to see if they were holding bitcoin when these forks were made.

Still very relevant in 2023! Thank you my friend.

[ChapInRed]

Hi LoyceV, re your process:

I learned something new in the past week: back in the early days of Bitcoin, coins were sent to pubkeys instead of addresses. This makes it impossible to sign offline using an SPV wallet.

After some fiddling, and after dusting the addresses to enforce replay protection, this procedure worked to extract BCH, eCash, BTG and BCD that was sent to pubkey:

• Install a fresh spare laptop (with VPN of course)
• Download the full client (the one Forked from Bitcoin Core) (note: I do not trust this software, but used CoinMarketCap.com to find the "official" website)
• Import the pubkey, let it synchronize
• Take it offline
• Import the private key
• Create a raw transaction to a new address (on the correct chain!)
• Copy the transaction to a USB stick
• Broadcast the transaction from another device
• Wipe the laptop (don't let it go online again after you entered the private key!)

Can I just check these are the right core clients for each:
BCH: https://bitcoincashnode.org/en/download.html
XEC: https://download.bitcoinabc.org/latest/
BTG: https://bitcoingold.org/downloads/
BCD: https://www.bitcoindiamond.org/download/

BTW, it looks like BCH and BTG can be sent to a Ledger wallet once set up for those coins, but not XEC or BCD - https://www.ledger.com/supported-crypto-assets

Thanks!

[LoyceV]

I learned something new in the past week: back in the early days of Bitcoin, coins were sent to pubkeys instead of addresses. This makes it impossible to sign offline using an SPV wallet.

Are you sure this applies to your case? If your funds were just send to a regular Bitcoin address, offline signing with an Electrum-clone is much easier.

Can I just check these are the right core clients for each:
BCH: https://bitcoincashnode.org/en/download.html

I'm not sure. https://bch.info/en/wallets doesn't mention it, and that link came from https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/bitcoin-cash/). I can't easily check what I used, because that means I need to backup and overwrite my spare laptop partition.

XEC: https://download.bitcoinabc.org/latest/
BTG: https://bitcoingold.org/downloads/
BCD: https://www.bitcoindiamond.org/download/

I think this is okay.
Note that I wouldn't trust the "official" websites either! Don't risk running that software on your normal computer, Forks were meant to make the creator rich, not you. So keep it offline, and keep it away from your normal system.

BTW, it looks like BCH and BTG can be sent to a Ledger wallet once set up for those coins, but not XEC or BCD

Correct. My advice: get rid of them I'd gladly provide my services for this (it's been a while).

You forgot BSV in your list. It's the most annoying one with the shittiest wallet software, but still worth something.

For privacy: if you link any of your addresses together on a Fork-chain, that's basically the same as linking them on the Bitcoin chain. If you're okay with that, you don't have to worry about it. If you don't want it: keep them separate.

[ChapInRed]

Are you sure this applies to your case? If your funds were just send to a regular Bitcoin address, offline signing with an Electrum-clone is much easier.

Thanks for the reply LoyceV!

I have my 3 original transactions from 2010 - at blockchain.com they all go to addresses labelled Base58 (P2PKH) so I guess that's OK?

[LoyceV]

I have my 3 original transactions from 2010 - at blockchain.com they all go to addresses labelled Base58 (P2PKH) so I guess that's OK?

So offline signing in Electrum Forks should work. But you'll need some Forkcoin dust to avoid replay protection. Without that, chances are several of your Forks end up on the wrong chain on your Ledger, and getting them back would require getting the private key out of your Ledger. That involves risks, so just avoid it

By including some dust (a small amount) that only exists on one chain in your Forkcoin transaction, you make sure it can't be replayed on another chain.

[Metamorph]

I don't understand all of these methods. Can't just take the private key from a BCH wallet. Import into a wallet BCHSV, then  import into a wallet XEC , so that we already have BCH, BCHVS and XEC, each in their wallet.

[LoyceV]

I don't understand all of these methods. Can't just take the private key from a BCH wallet. Import into a wallet BCHSV, then  import into a wallet XEC , so that we already have BCH, BCHVS and XEC, each in their wallet.

The lack of replay protection may mess it up, or insecure wallets could steal your funds. Keeping it offline and signing after receiving some dust is the safe way to go.

[LoyceV]

I've added this to my toolbox for my Fork Claiming Service: a space laptop with 2 Linux distributions installed in dual boot. The first is to work on, the second doesn't have internet and now has 5 partition images:
1. A fresh installation with VPN
2. A fresh installation with VPN and BCH full client, synced up to 2010, and set to prune. And BCH's Electrum Fork.
3. A fresh installation with VPN and BTG full client, synced up to 2010, and set to prune. And BTG's Electrum Fork (using wine).
4. A fresh installation with VPN and BCD full client, synced up to 2010, and set to prune. And BCD's Electrum Fork.
5. A fresh installation with VPN and eCash full client, synced up to 2010, and set to prune. And eCash'es Electrum Fork.
The laptop doesn't have enough disk space to keep all full clients.

This setup makes it much easier to handle Forkcoins: I restore the partition I need, boot into it, import the address/pubkey, and let it sync. When done, I take it offline, enter the private key, and create a raw transaction to transfer funds. After that, I boot into the second Linux distribution to overwrite the first partition. This makes offline signing relatively easy without ever risking the private key to untrusted software.

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[ChapInRed]

Hi LoyceV , thought I should try and sort this out. Haven't really used any Electrum client before so first I am familiarising my self with ElectronCash (v 4.4.0) for BCH.

I haven't touched my private keys yet - still on a SSD in my safe!

My plan was to buy some fork coin dust from you and work my way through the offline signing process, but not sure what I'm missing here with ElectronCash:

I checked my original 3 coin addresses on blockchain.com under https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/addresses/bch/q[longstrings] which show expected balances and transactions (mined x2, faucet x1, dust in 2021).

I made a watch wallet in Electron Cash using those public addresses. The faucet address shows expected balance but the mined addresses only show the dust balances from 2021.

Meanwhile am syncing https://bitcoincashnode.org/en/download.html on another installation, should that be needed.

Thanks for reading.

[LoyceV]

I made a watch wallet in Electron Cash using those public addresses. The faucet address shows expected balance but the mined addresses only show the dust balances from 2021.

It's been a while since you posted about your case (May last year), and it's late here, so I'll read more tomorrow. But the first thing that comes to mind is you may have mined your coins to a public key instead of an address. In that case, Electrum won't show that balance in a watch-only wallet. It will work with the private key, but that means you're dealing with a hot wallet (and I wouldn't trust Fork wallets at all!).

Feel free to give a summary of the current status (all Bitcoins moved to safety already?), I'll reply more tomorrow.

[ChapInRed]

Thanks LoyceV.

All BTC were sent to my Ledger using your advice in the May thread, most sold in June.

SSD with the original wallet in offline Bitcoin Core was then unplugged after I made some encrypted backups of wallet files.

Left in my safe til just now - I removed LAN cable (no wifi card on my desktop PC - definitely remains cold wallet!), plugged in SSD on its own and confirmed it still boots fine and Bitcoin Core as I left it.

All my BCH addresses on blockchain.com say they are CashAddr (P2PKH) format.

That's all really!

[LoyceV]

My plan was to buy some fork coin dust from you

I don't follow much Fork news, so I'm not sure if anything changed, but the lack of replay protection may be a problem for BCH/BSV/eCash. The sure solution is to include Fork dust on only that chain in your transaction.
I don't have a working BSV wallet, for the other 2 I can send you Fork dust. I do however have 2 BSV dust private keys, but the wallets are very shitty so sending it is annoying.

At current values, for 105 coins you're looking at $15k-ish in Forks.

It went up:
BCH: $45k
BSV: $8k
eCash: $5k
BTG: $4k
BCD: $100

BCH and BTG can be stored on Ledger. BSV is the worst to deal with, and selling them is a hassle too. Not many exchanges except them, and the few that accept them shouldn't be trusted with much. So send small chunks only to reduce your risk.

I checked my original 3 coin addresses on blockchain.com under https://www.blockchain.com/explorer/addresses/bch/q[longstrings] which show expected balances and transactions (mined x2, faucet x1, dust in 2021).

I made a watch wallet in Electron Cash using those public addresses. The faucet address shows expected balance but the mined addresses only show the dust balances from 2021.

Meanwhile am syncing https://bitcoincashnode.org/en/download.html on another installation, should that be needed.

Have you read my post on send-to-pubkey?
Using the full node and downloading the full chain is probably the easiest solution. Take it offline before entering your private key, create the transaction, and wipe it before ever going online again. It may be tiny compared to the Bitcoins you sold, but still no need risking your money in a hot wallet.

All my BCH addresses on blockchain.com say they are CashAddr (P2PKH) format.

They changed the address format, but the old ones are still compatible. It's mainly meant to prevent wrong-chain deposits.

[ChapInRed]

Thanks again LoyceV.

If I can buy dust for BCH and eCash, transfer them away to new wallets inc dust, then would BCH and eCash be safe? I.e. if I then moved BSV without dust, what would the risk be?

Yes, values going up has prompted me!

I'm looking at Changelly or similar to swap some of the low cap coins. Selling options particularly restricted to me in the UK these days. Will do in small chunks of course.

I did read your send-to-pubkey post, that makes sense. If I have the signed transaction from my offline BCH wallet, can I then broadcast it from https://blockchair.com/broadcast (selecting BCH network) as I did with the BTC process?

I'll set up and sync https://bitcoincashnode.org/en/download.html on a new Ubuntu installation, checking sigs of course. Guess that'll take a while.

[LoyceV]

If I can buy dust for BCH and eCash, transfer them away to new wallets inc dust, then would BCH and eCash be safe?

Yes. Any transaction that includes an input that doesn't exist on another chain, can't be replayed elsewhere.

I.e. if I then moved BSV without dust, what would the risk be?

That should be okay if there other Forks have moved already. And that's usually the order in which I move Forkcoins.

I'm looking at Changelly or similar to swap some of the low cap coins. Selling options particularly restricted to me in the UK these days. Will do in small chunks of course.

Bestchange may show more options (all of them require the same caution).

I did read your send-to-pubkey post, that makes sense. If I have the signed transaction from my offline BCH wallet, can I then broadcast it from https://blockchair.com/broadcast (selecting BCH network) as I did with the BTC process?

Yes.

I'll set up and sync https://bitcoincashnode.org/en/download.html on a new Ubuntu installation, checking sigs of course. Guess that'll take a while.

The BCH chain is a lot smaller than Bitcoin.

[ChapInRed]

OK, got Bitcoin Cash Node synced.

So I think my next steps are...

1. Buy BCH and eCash dust from you.
2. This gets sent to... my original addresses? An unused address in my existing wallet?
3. Sync Bitcoin Cash Node once dust has verified on blockchain. Take offline.
4. dumpwallet in my original offline BTC wallet
5. importwallet this file into new offline Bitcoin Cash Node.
6. Let it verify, hope all BCH shows up as available back to 2010.
7. Send to Ledger BCH wallet by creating transaction on Bitcoin Cash Node with my 3 UTXOs plus a dust address.
8. Broadcast this transaction using https://blockchair.com/broadcast

All being well, repeat this process with https://www.bitcoinabc.org/ for eCash.

[LoyceV]

2. This gets sent to... my original addresses? An unused address in my existing wallet?

Dusting the original legacy address is the easiest way, so it also works when you import the private key. But it could be a different address, as long as you include the input.

3. Sync Bitcoin Cash Node once dust has verified on blockchain. Take offline.
4. dumpwallet in my original offline BTC wallet

Since you're using the full node, you could probably just load the wallet.dat and do a rescan.

Sounds good to me. Disclaimer: I haven't verified the URLs, up to you to find the correct one for the real Fork wallet.