Since the emergence of Bitcoin, its network has processed hundreds of millions of transactions. Different groups within the Bitcoin community (developers, entrepreneurs, investors etc.) have been looking for a way to optimize Bitcoin in order to avoid scaling issues, such as increased transaction wait time and high fees.
Over the last few months, an alternative software has been developed that supports the interests of the aforementioned groups of people. Its implementation is scheduled for the end of July.
What can happen
Bitcoin’s blockchain is a place that stores all transactions that have happened since day one. Blockchain is supported by a network that consists of thousands of nodes running the software. On Tuesday, August 1st, the network may experience what is called a blockchain split. A possible result of such split are two (or more) independent competing blockchains. It will happen if a part of the nodes start running new software, incompatible with other nodes.
This may lead to the rejection of the confirmed transactions by the other portion of nodes that don’t support the changes. For an unknown length of time, Bitcoin transactions won’t be fully secure. The Bitcoins you have received after August 1st may disappear from your wallet or be rejected by certain services, until the situation is clear.
After that, everything will either go back to the way it was before, and you will be able to use Bitcoin the “normal” way, or, in case of chain split, you will need to perform certain actions to secure your Bitcoins.
In this article, we will tell you how to prepare yourself for what’s going to happen and how to keep your money safe.
How to prepare for the event
1. If you’re accepting Bitcoins as a payment method, we recommend that you stop doing so at least 12 hours before August 1st, although 24 or even 48 hours may be safer. This way you can make sure that all transactions will be processed before the event.
2. If you’re paying with Bitcoins, keep in mind that many services will stop accepting it for an unknown length of time.
3. Stay away from exchange platforms that don’t allow you to make a local copy of your private keys. If such exchange continues accepting Bitcoins on August 1st and loses money, the loses may get spread among all customers. If the blockchain split does happen and you own the type of coins they don’t like, you may not be able to get your Bitcoins back from such provider.
4. Bitcoin may experience major price swings as compared to other cryptocurrencies. Make sure to learn about Bitcoin volatility and only hold as many Bitcoins as you can afford losing.
During the event
1. Do not trust any payments you receive after August 1st, until the situation clears up. Such Bitcoins may simply disappear from your wallet in the future.
2. Do not send any Bitcoins. If you do, you may end up sending different types of coins to a recipient who expects one single type of Bitcoin. Don’t let anyone benefit at your expense.
3. You may receive tempting offers, suggesting you to make an investment by “splitting” your Bitcoins. Getting involved in such deals will likely result in losing your coins.
What to do after the event? [To be updated]
We will be updating this post with detailed instructions after August 1st, depending on what is happening in the world of cryptocurrencies.
And our last advice: only follow the information from trusted sources and resist possible provocation, and you will be able to survive the event without any collateral damage.
Trustedbitcoincasino will continue monitoring the situation to keep you updated, so stay tuned!
