Bitcoin Cash will go through a hard fork on November 15, and due to the contentious nature of the fork, it’s best to use a supported wallet in order to secure the validity of your funds. Here’s our explanation on what to do.

Why is there a Bitcoin Cash hard fork?

The Bitcoin Cash fork originates from conflicting consensus change and update proposals advocated by different Bitcoin Cash development teams. The Bitcoin ABC group is generally seen to produce the leading software implementation for Bitcoin Cash and has been considered the equivalent of Bitcoin Core. The team announced in August 2018 the release of the Bitcoin ABC 0.18.0 software implementation of the Bitcoin Cash protocol that included the activation of the Bitcoin Cash network upgrade that would take effect on Nov 15, 2018. Bitcoin ABC also supports the usage of the Wormhole Protocol, which developers claim will enable Bitcoin Cash to support tokens and smart contracts.

The nChain group has outlined their intention to try to stick to the original vision for Bitcoin as outlined in the whitepaper produced by Satoshi Nakamoto, and increase the block size to 128MB. As a result, a hard fork is set to occur on November 15 around UNIX time 1542300000, and will result in separate Bitcoin Cash chains, with the nChain minority chain being named Bitcoin SV after its reference implementation. Eventually, one of the chains will go on to be the dominant chain, and gain widespread support.

What does this mean for Bitcoin Cash holders?

The hard fork will result in at least two chains without replay protection, and BCH holders should be wary of making transactions around the time of the fork. It’s also important to use exchanges and wallet providers that have announced support for the hard fork.

So far, Binance, Coinbase, and Ledger have declared support for the upcoming split with regards to the roadmap outlined by bitcoincash.org, and have outlined their specific methods of operation. Both exchanges will temporarily suspend deposits and withdrawals while Ledger will halt their Bitcoin Cash service to avoid unwanted transactions until a dominant chain clearly emerges.

The lack of replay protection will result in temporary pauses to BCH transactions in order to prevent unwanted transactions, or “replay attacks” which may cause a loss of funds and other potential issues when interacting with the Bitcoin Cash network during mid November.

What should I do?

Firstly, BCH holders should check with their preferred wallet providers and exchanges to see if they are planning to support the fork. Users of Binance, Coinbase, and Ledger will be able to leave their assets on their wallets without requiring any further action.

However, as Bitcoin Cash transactions will be temporarily suspended, if you need to access your Bitcoin Cash holders it may be necessary to move your funds to a wallet or exchange platform that will continue to support transactions during this time. It’s important to recognise that by doing this, you should be ready to accept the responsibility for any outcome that follows. Ledger have announced that you can still use a third party wallet supporting Ledger devices, such as Electron Cash to make transactions at your own risk.

The easiest method of operation is to keep your funds in a supported wallet or on an exchange that will support the split and refrain from making transactions until a dominant chain emerges. In addition, keep updated of any announcements as wallet providers and exchanges will communicate their operations regarding the outcome of the fork via their websites and social media accounts.