November 14th was when the Bitcoin [BTC] and, with it, the whole crypto market saw a sharp downward thrust, resulting in a loss of billions across the crypto-sphere. Then the hard fork of Bitcoin Cash [BCH] happened. This was the most inopportune time as the markets were already in turmoil and this civil war made things bleaker.

The breakaway after the fork and the ensuing hash war was widely reported and discussed. It finally resulted in Craig Wright and Calvin Ayre breaking away and forming their own chain, the Bitcoin SV [BSV] (Satoshi’s Vision). This significantly weakened an already frail ecosystem with prices plunging almost every day. Afterward, many coinbase users tried to access their BSV coins but were rudely surprised to find that they could not access them. As with previous forks, users with Bitcoin Cash tokens would have the right to the Bitcoin SV chain, should they so wish.

Requests For BSV Met With Stonewall Tactics

When users of Coinbase tried to access their coins they were unable to do so. Understandably, frustrated users contacted the support staff about the issue. It then became known that Coinbase had not released Bitcoin SV to anyone. This was thought to be due to the ongoing hash-war and many assumed normal services would be resumed in the next couple of days.

However, as one user publicly explained, across multiple e-mails over weeks, Coinbase has repeatedly hidden behind the garb of “technical issues” but has provided no straight answers or details. They have only confirmed that, eventually, withdrawals would be available, but stop short of giving a tangible timeframe.

Customer Service: What Not To Do

When an irate user noted that it had been more than 5 weeks without any discernible update, he got a swift response that read:

“Thanks for contacting Coinbase Support. I understand the importance of your digital currency and thank you for your patience with us. I’ve taken a look at your case and am working with a specialist to address your issue properly. Please note that these reviews are typically completed within 5-7 business days.”

One would think that was a fair response, however where Coinbase seems to have missed the mark is when they sent a follow-up response which read:

“Following the BCH hard fork and conclusion of the hash war, Bitcoin SV has confirmed the creation of a new coin, BSV. Coinbase intends to allow customers to withdraw BSV at a future date, though we do not currently intend to support trading, buys or sells.”

We will provide additional updates as they are available. We anticipate development work for BSV withdrawals will take at least a few weeks, but may take longer.”

When the aggrieved tried to escalate this issue by saying,

“It’s already been 7 WEEKS since that last update. You have been busy adding new trading pairs, but cannot ensure that coins that your clients own can be given to them for them to use. That is unacceptable. Please escalate this to someone who can provide a better answer.”

It was replied to with what felt like haplessness. The responder simply said “I understand your frustration and I wish that there was more that I could do.” before following the familiar lines of updates coming soon and development work in progress.

So What Is The Holdup?

Coinbase has not addressed the reason behind the holdup even as other wallets and exchanges have been trading BSV for weeks now. This is particularly concerning for two reasons: Firstly, the price of BSV had buoyed to about $200 before its current value of $85. This is a substantial loss that could have been avoided, Secondly, given the large user-base that Coinbase has, it is likely the BSV market has yet to find its price as many potential coins have yet to be released into the market. Imagine the price shock if they are sold at the same time.

This is a concern that has been repeatedly discussed by the community. In fact, many Reddit users have now started wondering when they might get hold of their assets and if there is a subplot to deny access to BSV.

A More Elegant Solution

Prior to the split, many exchanges and community members were discussing the best way to deal with the problems that would follow. Poloniex had the perfect answer, it let “both pre-fork trading and a convenient way for users to be sure their coins would “split” properly.”

After the cease-fire, the Roger Ver led Bitcoin ABC retained control of the “BCH” (Bitcoin Cash) ticker on almost all the exchanges. Pretty soon most exchanges began listing both tokens; BCH (Bitcoin ABC) and BSV (Bitcoin SV).

There were undoubtedly challenges when BCH split, however, instead of working on a solution, Coinbase seems to have taken the harder route by shrouding everything in mystery. The writer is fairly bemused, as, with a background in programming and development, it seems a bit odd that after 8 weeks, a company the size of Coinbase, has not been able to implement a solution that should involve a few days of work. And if there are other issues, do the customers have no right to know?