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.