The upcoming Bitcoin Cash (BCH) hard fork could result in two different chains this time. Among the exchanges, Binance and Coinbase have announced support for the hard fork.
Binance and Coinbase Announce Support
The upcoming BCH hard fork on November 15th is not a regular upgrade. This time, the developer community has failed to arrive at a consensus over what changes should be pushed into the latest release of the software.
If both camps go ahead with their proposed changes, we may have a situation with two chains going forward. Which chain emerges as the more predominant one depends on which one manages to garner more hash rate support from the miners.
Among the leading exchanges, Binance and Coinbase have announced their support for the hard fork on their respective websites. In anticipation of the hard fork, along with the support announced by the said exchanges, the price of BCH surged by over 13.5% overnight.
Announcement from Binance
The leading exchange confirmed in a blog post the support for the hard fork. It, however, did not specify which chain the platform would actually support.
Providing details about the actions the exchange would take, the announcement reads:
We will take a snapshot of all Bitcoin Cash balances at UNIX time 1542300000, 2018/11/15 4:40:00 PM (UTC). Deposits and withdrawals of Bitcoin Cash will be suspended starting from 2018/11/15 3:00:00 PM (UTC).
Customers have been advised to complete their deposits and withdrawals well ahead of the scheduled outage.
The post further states:
We will make a separate announcement after the snapshot is complete to notify users when deposits and withdrawals for Bitcoin Cash will reopen.
Coinbase Announcement
Coinbase, in its announcement, went a step ahead and clarified that it would support the “published roadmap” from bitcoincash.org. The exchange would monitor the situation as it emerges and take the appropriate steps to minimize “customer disruption” until the “network meets Coinbase security standards.”
The announcement said:
We will pause sends and receives on the BCH wallets at Coinbase.com, in our iOS and Android apps, and at Coinbase Pro and Prime beginning at 8:00AM PST on 11/15/2018 (approximately 1 hour before the fork).
The firm has advised its users to complete their transactions well before the scheduled pause and assured them that their assets would remain safe with the platform.
The announcement concludes by clarifying:
In the unlikely event that multiple viable chains persist after the fork, Coinbase will ensure that customers have access to their funds on each chain.
While Coinbase has made its stand clear about supporting both forks in case both chains survive, Binance has remained silent on this issue. Other exchanges have yet to spell out their position. Investors who hold their coins on an exchange that has not clarified its stand would be better off moving their assets to a wallet where they control the private keys.
Live Bitcoin News earlier today reported details about the hard fork and how the situation is likely to play out. As far as investors, traders, and holders of BCH are concerned, they can benefit from this hard fork by earning some free money.
Would you like all the leading exchanges to clarify their position on which BCH chains (in case of a split) they intend to support? Let us know in the comments below.
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