Shortly after 1:00 PM today, Greek time, Bitcoin split in two, creating Bitcoin Cash, an alternative cryptocurrency, in a chain split that had been predicted months ago.
The split called a “hard fork,” although at the last minute it seemed that it would be avoided, eventually happened and came from a bitcoin group’s desire to combat high transaction fees and a maximum bitcoin size limit that made larger blocks useless.
This has a subtle implication for Bitcoin owners. If you own Bitcoin and control your private keys, those same private keys can be used to spend your Bitcoin Cash as well.
If you own Bitcoin but don’t control the keys, then it depends on whether you have chosen to keep your bitcoins on a Bitcoin Cash platform or in a digital wallet. Each platform treats the new Bitcoin Cash differently. To enjoy this additional currency, you should check your platform and wallet to see what the company’s policy is.
As a prelude to the split, Bitcoin trading platforms such as CEX.iohave suspended Bitcoin withdrawals in advance. CEX.io will allow both cryptocurrencies and split the amounts among its customers. CEX.io CEO Eugene Kovalyk says: “Whether we list Bitcoin Cash as a new trading currency depends on demand. If demand is high we should definitely consider adding it… No one should miss out on Bitcoin Cash on our platform.”
Meanwhile, the world’s most popular cryptocurrency exchange, Coinbase, has rejected the new Bitcoin Cash due to suspicions from some customers. It claims that its systems cannot support Bitcoin Cash without a major overhaul of its system that is currently not worth it given Bitcoin Cash’s unknown value. The exchange allowed a short period of time before August 1stfor users who wanted to access Bitcoin Cash to withdraw their funds from Coinbase.
