Bitstamp's Position Changes — Will Distribute Bitcoin Cash to Customers

The European Union based bitcoin marketplace, Bitstamp, has announced customers who left BTC on their exchange before the fork will receive Bitcoin Cash in the near future.

Also read: Indian Government May Take Immediate Steps to Stop Bitcoin Use

Bitstamp: BCH Balances Will Be Made Available to Our Customers as Soon as It Is Safe

August 2nd has been an interesting day in the world of cryptocurrency as many exchanges came back online and the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain continues to slowly chug forward. Many trading platforms had given their customers contingency plan notices on how they would go forward with the BCH chain and associated token. A good majority of exchanges explained they would support and list the currency, while some had decided not to. Customers doing business with the latter were asked to remove their BTC by July 31 if they wanted to obtain the BCH token. This included big cryptocurrency trading platforms such as Coinbase, Bitstamp and a few others.

Now Bitstamp seems to have changed its position towards the BCH token. The exchange recorded all the balances left on the exchange before the fork and plans to distribute the funds as soon as it can.

“For those of our customers who chose to leave their BTC on our platform at the time of the fork, we recorded their BCH balances for the timestamp of the last common block (block 478558),” explains Bitstamp’s most recent update. “These BCH balances will be made available to our customers as soon as it is safe to do so. If and when the Bitcoin Cash system has been thoroughly tested and is sufficiently stable, we will then consider listing BCH.”

However, a series of technical, safety and regulatory requirements need to be met in order for this to occur, and it is still too early in the day to make realistic predictions about the timeframes involved.

Bitstamp Believes the Company Took the ‘Best Course of Action’

The announcement follows shortly after new developments around the bitcoin trading platform Coinbase, which might be dealing with some possible legal scrutiny. According to the financial publication Fortune some customers may take the San Francisco-based bitcoin exchange to court over the company’s stance on BCH distribution. Furthermore, a new website has been created for those looking to join a class action lawsuit against Coinbase.

Bitstamp is currently the only exchange so far that is changing its tune towards BCH distribution. The popular European exchange believes it was “clearly the best course of action to take to ensure the continued stability and security of our platform.” Bitstamp says the safety of customer funds comes before anything and the fork could have caused temporary network disruption. The trading platform’s customers will likely be pleased that the exchange has changed its mind and will distribute the BCH tokens soon.

What do you think about Bitstamp’s decision to distribute BCH to customers who left funds on the exchange? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Bitcoincash.org, and Bitstamp.

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