Blockchain Hard Fork on Aug 1 – What to do

BIP 148 UASF Guide for 1 August

Bitcoin will experience a chain spilt on the 1st of August, 2017. It is a user activated soft fork as described in the BIP 148 that is the Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 148. If a majority of the bitcoin miners do not signal support for the Segwit through the BIP148 on August 1, 2017, but only some of them do, then Bitcoin’s blockchain will split into 2 parts. 

So what should you be doing with your Bitcoin in the BIP148 event?

Before August 1, 2017

  • The chain spilt is undoubtedly a high-risk situation and can be considered as a battle between 2 parties. Bitcoin’s exchange can drop very sharply, possible to zero as well.

 

What to do?

  • Control your Private Keys, take all backups before August 1
  • It is advisable to not keep your Bitcoin on an Exchange.

 

On and after August 1, 2017

  • It is possible that several new types of Bitcoin emerge, for instance, “Bitcoin XYZ” If you hold your private keys, you will have both 148 BTC and Legacy BTC
  • Avoid any transactions on August 1, 2017 and maybe in the next few days as well
  • You can also consider splitting your Bitcoin into different wallets.

 

Comments by some experts:

Fraser Brown from ACT:

“The crypto community has been through mill these last weeks with shocking hacks and huge crashes. These things can freeze people. But this is not the time to freeze, it is the time to make good decisions. At ACT we want to wish the community safety and security but also profitability as the roller coaster continues”

Michael Marcovici, Digital Developers Fund

“If there is no clear consensus before August 1st, some exchanges will stop trading Bitcoin. We would advise withdrawing funds into your own wallet. A further safety measure could be to move funds to Ethereum. Our ICO is also open during this time period, so if you are looking to invest outside of Bitcoin, we invite you to look at that opportunity.”

William Selmo from Boule.one

“We think that Bitcoin on 1 of August will force all miners to improve the security protocol called BIP148, in this case, Ethereum ha already a similar security protocol and that’s why we, as boule.one, choose Ethereum as the most secure way to improve the voting system using Blockchain”

Ingus Staltmanis & Andars Ignacs from PAquarium

“Most market participants in the Market Block agree that: Segregated Witness (Segwit2x) is a worthy way out of the current situation. Demand for cryptocurrency is giving overnight speed, new and reliable currency will be just in time. This is a normal market situation which makes investors believe in stable growth in the future.”

Dev Kumar, An ICO Investor from India:

“Although this month has mixed reviews of whats going to happen with various ICO’s and the established Altcoins and Obviously Bitcoin. The picture is getting clear now and the Bitcoin is going to fire again but we can’t ignore the major ICO’s which are coming up in July-August. Some of them are going to be huge. There are issues of Hacking earlier this month but still, the crypto craze is not over. This is just a beginning of a new era.”