Need help moving "Pre-Forked" Bitcoin to a new address

[Haliburton]

Since I've joined the crypto revolution, I've been accumulating Bitcoin as a sort of retirement fund. My cold storage wallet has been intact for nearly 6 years now. Thanks to the "fork craze" of 2017, my money has quadrupled. Talk about crypto being better than banks.

Now, I want to move my "Pre-Forked" Bitcoin funds to a new address. But I don't know how to do it without risking losing my funds from other blockchain networks. All I want to do is send my "Pre-Forked" Bitcoin to the new native SegWit (Bech32) cold storage wallet, while "splitting" forked coins into new addresses.

Can you help me?

[mapsfly]

It should work as discussed here

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/btweyg/what_happens_if_you_sent_btc_from_a_legacy_wallet/

however, I would send a small amount first to test it

let us know

[Haliburton]

It should work as discussed here

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/btweyg/what_happens_if_you_sent_btc_from_a_legacy_wallet/

however, I would send a small amount first to test it

let us know

Ok. I can see this works for Bitcoin only. But what if I want to preserve my balance from other Bitcoin forks (Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, etc)? I have read somewhere that such forks use the same private key. I don't want the balance from other coins to move into the same wallet address. Instead, I'd prefer to split my BTC into a new Native SegWit address, while I send other coins to separate addresses. Is this possible?

[hatshepsut93]

If you're transferring your coins to a native SegWit address, such transaction would be invalid on the BCH and BSV networks because they don't have SegWit, so you don't need to worry about it. And other forks should have implemented replay protection to prevent such problems. I have many empty addresses that still hold the forked coins, and there wasn't any problems with replays.

Just make sure to prioritize the safety of your bitcoins first - never put a private key that still has Bitcoin balance in any altcoin software.

[Haliburton]

If you're transferring your coins to a native SegWit address, such transaction would be invalid on the BCH and BSV networks because they don't have SegWit, so you don't need to worry about it. And other forks should have implemented replay protection to prevent such problems. I have many empty addresses that still hold the forked coins, and there wasn't any problems with replays.

Just make sure to prioritize the safety of your bitcoins first - never put a private key that still has Bitcoin balance in any altcoin software.

Thanks for the tip. Which wallet do you recommend the most for Bitcoin transactions on mobile devices? I have an Android phone and want to do this with the most secure and/or trusted, reliable Bitcoin wallet. It should be a matter of sweeping the private key, and sending the funds to the new native SegWit address.

And to be honest, I did not know about "replay protection". I've thought that sending coins through the original chain, will also reflect itself on other chains. Sort of like what happened with the Ethereum Classic hard fork in 2016. It's a relief that all forked chains live independently from the original Bitcoin blockchain. Else, I would've lost the opportunity of selling the other coins for free money.  

[HashFace]

It should work as discussed here

https://www.reddit.com/r/Bitcoin/comments/btweyg/what_happens_if_you_sent_btc_from_a_legacy_wallet/

however, I would send a small amount first to test it

let us know

Ok. I can see this works for Bitcoin only. But what if I want to preserve my balance from other Bitcoin forks (Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV, etc)? I have read somewhere that such forks use the same private key. I don't want the balance from other coins to move into the same wallet address. Instead, I'd prefer to split my BTC into a new Native SegWit address, while I send other coins to separate addresses. Is this possible?

Yes.  Your forked coins will not move when you move your Bitcoin Balance to a new wallet.

All you have do to preserve any forked coins you want to someday claim is preserve the private key where the Bitcoins were held at the time of the fork.  

As you have correctly noted, it is best to move all your Bitcoin to a new wallet address before attemtping to claim any of the forked coins.

To claim those coins, like Bitcoin Cash, you'd have to download a Bitcoin Cash Wallet, and seed it with the preserved private key.

[Haliburton]

Yes.  Your forked coins will not move when you move your Bitcoin Balance to a new wallet.

All you have do to preserve any forked coins you want to someday claim is preserve the private key where the coins were held at the time of the fork.  

As you have correctly noted, it is best to move all your coins to a new wallet address before attemtping to claim any of the forked coins.

To claim those coins, like Bitcoin Cash, you'd have to download a Bitcoin Cash Wallet, and seed it with the preserved private key.

Seems like an easy task. I'd prefer to do this on my desktop PC for extra security. I've talked about using mobile wallets before, but changed my mind after doing a little digging. The "Pre-Fork" cold storage wallet has a large number of Bitcoins on it, so I wouldn't risk doing these steps on my Android phone.

I have found Electrum wallets for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, and Bitcoin SV. So I should be able to split my coins into new addresses without waiting for the whole Blockchain to sync. I will try doing this to see how it goes. Wish me luck!

[bitmover]

Since I've joined the crypto revolution, I've been accumulating Bitcoin as a sort of retirement fund. My cold storage wallet has been intact for nearly 6 years now. Thanks to the "fork craze" of 2017, my money has quadrupled. Talk about crypto being better than banks.

I don't know how you made that math, specially since you didn't even claimed your forked coins now. BCH and BSV are in a strong downtrend and they will soon be worth nothing.
BTC/BCH ATH ratio was 0.5, now it is 0.011


You certainly aren't going to quadruplicate your BTCs, you will, at the most, get 0.015 of each btc claiming all forked shitcoins.

Now, I want to move my "Pre-Forked" Bitcoin funds to a new address. But I don't know how to do it without risking losing my funds from other blockchain networks. All I want to do is send my "Pre-Forked" Bitcoin to the new native SegWit (Bech32) cold storage wallet, while "splitting" forked coins into new addresses.

Can you help me?

I would transfer my BTC to another address first. Just buy a Hardware wallet (since you have many btc from many years old, 80 usd won't be a problem). I recommend Ledger Nano.

Then send your bitcoins to a native segwit addres

Then, you should follow this guide, which is the best imo:
https://coinomi.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/29000026274-bch-abc-bsv-fork-information-splitting

If you're transferring your coins to a native SegWit address, such transaction would be invalid on the BCH and BSV networks because they don't have SegWit, so you don't need to worry about it. And other forks should have implemented replay protection to prevent such problems.

BCH and BSV do not have repay protection.

[hatshepsut93]

Thanks for the tip. Which wallet do you recommend the most for Bitcoin transactions on mobile devices? I have an Android phone and want to do this with the most secure and/or trusted, reliable Bitcoin wallet. It should be a matter of sweeping the private key, and sending the funds to the new native SegWit address.

And to be honest, I did not know about "replay protection". I've thought that sending coins through the original chain, will also reflect itself on other chains. Sort of like what happened with the Ethereum Classic hard fork in 2016. It's a relief that all forked chains live independently from the original Bitcoin blockchain. Else, I would've lost the opportunity of selling the other coins for free money.  

I don't recommend using mobile or any other online wallet for handling all your long-term coins, it's just too risky. You should use a cold storage setup or buy a hardware wallet. Make sure to carefully research about it, there's plenty of topics on this forum about it.

As for replay protection, when someone makes a contentious hard fork, they don't bother implementing it, because they want everyone follow only their chain. But when someone creates a forked altcoin, they do want to implement it, because it would make it easier for their users.

[pooya87]

You must first create a new "cold storage wallet", based on the type it could be a new paper wallet, a new deterministic wallet or a new wallet in your hardware wallet. But it must be a new wallet with a new mnemonic (for HD wallets) or a new private key (for single key cold storage like paper).
Then send all your bitcoins to that new wallet.

Then search which shitcoins you have received and are worth claiming depending on how much they are worth.
Find a wallet that supports these shitcoins, usually there is a copy of Electrum called Electrum-shitcoinname or something similar (like Electrum BSV, Electron cash) but also you can use the closed source (but risky) wallet called Coinomi on your phone or desktop.
Import your now-empty-of-bitcoin cold storage into this (these) shitcoin wallets and spend your airdrops.

I made a topic back in 2017 for BCASH (called BCC for short back then), method 2 works now:
https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2054046.0

[bitmover]

As for replay protection, when someone makes a contentious hard fork, they don't bother implementing it, because they want everyone follow only their chain. But when someone creates a forked altcoin, they do want to implement it, because it would make it easier for their users.

I know they should have implemented, but they didn't. BSV developers didn't want to implement it.
This is why you have to split your coins first, as suggested in the guide I mentioned.

You can read about it here.

About replay protection:

There is no replay protection between the BCH (ABC) and the BSV chains. This means that, unless you properly "split" your coins, transactions you make with one of those coins will also be made on the other.

Sending unsplit BCH will result in the same amount of BSV being sent to the same address (and vice-versa). The receiving wallet may not be prepared to accept BSV into their address, so there is a possibility of loss of BSV coins. This is not an issue specific to Coinomi, as any other wallet you use is under the same risk.

How to split coins:

Splitting is only necessary if you had a positive BCH balance on November 15th 2018. If you received either BCH or BSV after that date, they are most likely already split.

1 - Receive a new deposit into your BCH wallet of BCH that is already split. Any value will work, however small. The easiest way is to receive BCH from an exchange. If you are sweeping unsplit BCH/BSV from a paper wallet, you must still receive split BCH from somewhere else before moving to step 2.
2 - After transaction from (1) is confirmed, open the BCH wallet and copy your current BCH "receive" address
3 - On that same BCH wallet, go to the "send" section and send your full BCH balance to the address copied above.
4 - Done. This should be enough for your coins to be split. This process only has to be done once. After your coins are split, they are split forever, and further deposits you receive will also most likely already be split.

https://coinomi.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/29000026274-bch-abc-bsv-fork-information-splitting

Coinomi is not as safe as a Desktop Wallet or a Hardware wallet, but it is extremely convenient as it supports both BSV, BCH and BTG. You can claim all of them easily, and after claminig them you can just move those coins to another wallet, safer. Or even sell them and buy some btc back.

[HashFace]

As for replay protection, when someone makes a contentious hard fork, they don't bother implementing it, because they want everyone follow only their chain. But when someone creates a forked altcoin, they do want to implement it, because it would make it easier for their users.

I know they should have implemented, but they didn't. BSV developers didn't want to implement it.
This is why you have to split your coins first, as suggested in the guide I mentioned.

You can read about it here.

About replay protection:

There is no replay protection between the BCH (ABC) and the BSV chains. This means that, unless you properly "split" your coins, transactions you make with one of those coins will also be made on the other.

Sending unsplit BCH will result in the same amount of BSV being sent to the same address (and vice-versa). The receiving wallet may not be prepared to accept BSV into their address, so there is a possibility of loss of BSV coins. This is not an issue specific to Coinomi, as any other wallet you use is under the same risk.

How to split coins:

Splitting is only necessary if you had a positive BCH balance on November 15th 2018. If you received either BCH or BSV after that date, they are most likely already split.

1 - Receive a new deposit into your BCH wallet of BCH that is already split. Any value will work, however small. The easiest way is to receive BCH from an exchange. If you are sweeping unsplit BCH/BSV from a paper wallet, you must still receive split BCH from somewhere else before moving to step 2.
2 - After transaction from (1) is confirmed, open the BCH wallet and copy your current BCH "receive" address
3 - On that same BCH wallet, go to the "send" section and send your full BCH balance to the address copied above.
4 - Done. This should be enough for your coins to be split. This process only has to be done once. After your coins are split, they are split forever, and further deposits you receive will also most likely already be split.

https://coinomi.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/29000026274-bch-abc-bsv-fork-information-splitting

Coinomi is not as safe as a Desktop Wallet or a Hardware wallet, but it is extremely convenient as it supports both BSV, BCH and BTG. You can claim all of them easily, and after claminig them you can just move those coins to another wallet, safer. Or even sell them and buy some btc back.

Wow.  Thanks for posting that.  I didn't know that about the BCH/BSV fork.

[Haliburton]

I don't know how you made that math, specially since you didn't even claimed your forked coins now. BCH and BSV are in a strong downtrend and they will soon be worth nothing.
BTC/BCH ATH ratio was 0.5, now it is 0.011

You certainly aren't going to quadruplicate your BTCs, you will, at the most, get 0.015 of each btc claiming all forked shitcoins.

Brother, I've been into Bitcoin long before the bull market of 2017. Bought 5 BTC and kept it in the cold storage wallet since early 2015. Now with a price of $44,000 per coin, my money has multiplied by a large rate. And this is without counting all of the Bitcoin forks that came after the Bitcoin Cash craze in August 2017.

Forked coins are basically "free money" to me. I do not care about their current price if I'm able to get some free cash in return.  

I would transfer my BTC to another address first. Just buy a Hardware wallet (since you have many btc from many years old, 80 usd won't be a problem). I recommend Ledger Nano.

Then send your bitcoins to a native segwit addres

Then, you should follow this guide, which is the best imo:
https://coinomi.freshdesk.com/support/solutions/articles/29000026274-bch-abc-bsv-fork-information-splitting

I have heard a lot about Hardware wallets. But a much more affordable option is a paper wallet. I have done one myself with the new native SegWit address starting with bc1. The old cold storage wallet is based on a legacy address, so I've created the new one to help save money from Bitcoin fees.

Thanks for the guide btw. I'll read this carefully to safely split my shitcoins.  

I don't recommend using mobile or any other online wallet for handling all your long-term coins, it's just too risky. You should use a cold storage setup or buy a hardware wallet. Make sure to carefully research about it, there's plenty of topics on this forum about it.

As for replay protection, when someone makes a contentious hard fork, they don't bother implementing it, because they want everyone follow only their chain. But when someone creates a forked altcoin, they do want to implement it, because it would make it easier for their users.

Thank you for the advice, brother. I've figured that myself when looking for the safest way to store Bitcoins in the long term. I found out two solutions: Hardware wallets and Paper wallets. Decided to go for the latter option as it's much more affordable for me. I might consider buying myself a Ledger Nano X later on.

[hatshepsut93]

Thank you for the advice, brother. I've figured that myself when looking for the safest way to store Bitcoins in the long term. I found out two solutions: Hardware wallets and Paper wallets. Decided to go for the latter option as it's much more affordable for me. I might consider buying myself a Ledger Nano X later on.

Just make sure to not use those types of paper wallets that require you to just print out your private key and an address. At least one paper wallet site is known to be malicious, it's hard to verify they code of websites. They also encourage you to reuse your address which is horrible for privacy. And they have less error correction, so if it gets damaged, it would be hard to recover the private key.

Instead use a wallet like Electrum that allows you to create a mnemonic seed and write it down on paper, or use something even more resilient, and make sure to create multiple backups.

[Haliburton]

Just make sure to not use those types of paper wallets that require you to just print out your private key and an address. At least one paper wallet site is known to be malicious, it's hard to verify they code of websites. They also encourage you to reuse your address which is horrible for privacy. And they have less error correction, so if it gets damaged, it would be hard to recover the private key.

Instead use a wallet like Electrum that allows you to create a mnemonic seed and write it down on paper, or use something even more resilient, and make sure to create multiple backups.

I've created a bech32 segwit paper wallet using this generator: https://segwitaddress.org/ . Everything was done in a new computer, with a live Ubuntu OS installed on a USB stick, and no internet access of any kind. I got a private key instead of a seed.

Will my new cold storage wallet still be safe this way? Or should I create a new one which makes use of a seed? I'm used to handling private keys from many cryptocurrencies ever since I began my journey in 2015. I don't like seeds because they have a bunch of Bitcoin keypairs attached to them. A private key only works for a single address, allowing you to easily manage your funds.

What do you think, brother?

[hatshepsut93]

I've created a bech32 segwit paper wallet using this generator: https://segwitaddress.org/ . Everything was done in a new computer, with a live Ubuntu OS installed on a USB stick, and no internet access of any kind. I got a private key instead of a seed.

I find it contradictory that you have taken precautions like using live OS without Internet access, but then use a Bitcoin software that wasn't verified neither by you or anyone else. I don't know if that site is legit, and you can never be sure that just because there are no scam accusations against it, it's 100% safe. We have open source wallets like Electrum or Bitcoin Core which are used by millions of people, why not use them?

Will my new cold storage wallet still be safe this way? Or should I create a new one which makes use of a seed? I'm used to handling private keys from many cryptocurrencies ever since I began my journey in 2015. I don't like seeds because they have a bunch of Bitcoin keypairs attached to them. A private key only works for a single address, allowing you to easily manage your funds.

That's the point of a seed, you have many addresses, so you have better privacy, because you can practice coin control. It also removes other risks that are present with single-key paper wallets, like losing your change address or loss of the key due to partial damage to the paper wallet. You can also write down your seed with just pen and paper, which means you don't have to introduce printers into the process of making a seed, and printers could be vulnerable, especially if you don't own one.

[Haliburton]

I find it contradictory that you have taken precautions like using live OS without Internet access, but then use a Bitcoin software that wasn't verified neither by you or anyone else. I don't know if that site is legit, and you can never be sure that just because there are no scam accusations against it, it's 100% safe. We have open source wallets like Electrum or Bitcoin Core which are used by millions of people, why not use them?

The wallet generator used is open source and verified to be legitimate (made by a reputable developer named "coinables"). Anyhow, I guess that it's much better to use a well-trusted wallet for the generation of Bitcoin keypairs. I'm going to use Electrum as I don't want to wait for the blockchain to sync. Funny thing, I haven't moved my "pre-forked" Bitcoin to a new address yet. I will try and do this as soon as possible, before my old wallet gets compromised.

If you have any other suggestions, or recommendations, feel free to keep in touch with me anytime. I am very grateful for the help I have been given on this forum. Hope to become an expert on crypto sometime in the future. 

[tranthidung]

I've created a bech32 segwit paper wallet using this generator: https://segwitaddress.org/ . Everything was done in a new computer, with a live Ubuntu OS installed on a USB stick, and no internet access of any kind. I got a private key instead of a seed.

Another wallet that gives you Bech32 address is Electrum: https://electrum.org/#download and verify it.

• How to Safely Download and Verify Electrum
• It allows you to create wallet for Legacy or Segwit address

The purpose when you want to claim forked coins is to get extra money from your initial bitcoin amount. So please

• Protect your bitcoin amount first. Don't lose it when you use its private key to claim forked coins!
• Move your initial bitcoin amount to a new address in a new bitcoin wallet. It is a way to protect it
• Wait for confirmation(s) for that transaction. If you are more careful, wait for 3 confirmations at least

And follows the guide LoyceV's Bitcoin Fork claiming guide (and service)

[LoyceV]

I've created a bech32 segwit paper wallet using this generator: https://segwitaddress.org/ . Everything was done in a new computer, with a live Ubuntu OS installed on a USB stick, and no internet access of any kind. I got a private key instead of a seed.

I'd be very, very careful using any website to create a private key if you're going to store a significant amount. I haven't seen anything bad about this website, but people have lost millions using several different sites that offer paper wallets.

And follows the guide LoyceV's Bitcoin Fork claiming guide (and service)

Thanks for mentioning me here. @Haliburton: I can get you some Fork dust to enforce replay protection, and you'd make me really happy if I can get some unsplit Fork dust in return.

[Haliburton]

I'd be very, very careful using any website to create a private key if you're going to store a significant amount. I haven't seen anything bad about this website, but people have lost millions using several different sites that offer paper wallets.

Got it, brother. I've just created a new wallet address using Electrum. Did the same for the other forks. I am ready to split my coins!

@Haliburton: I can get you some Fork dust to enforce replay protection, and you'd make me really happy if I can get some unsplit Fork dust in return.

How do I do that? Please let me know via PM. I will try to cooperate with you in every way possible.