As many of you are aware, BTC will be implementing a protocol on August 1st entitled Bitcoin Improvement Proposal 148 (BIP 148). This proposed user activated soft fork, or UASF, will implement segregated witness, or SegWit (does every crypto term have an acronym?), and ease Bitcoin's scaling limitation. However, there are many nodes that do not support SegWit, and wish to keep Bitcoin as is. If there is not enough support of BIP 148, there will likely be a hard fork and the creation of a new Bitcoin, not unlike Etherium's fork in Nov 2016. (news.bitcoin.com/wp-...7/uasf_nodes_all.png Support rate of BIP 148).
So what does this mean for you? Bitcoin will be an unstable store of value at and around August 1st on many exchanges and in many non-upgraded wallets. Some exchanges may close transactions with Bitcoin or even with many altcoins for a short time. There will be a high risk of losing funds if they are not kept in a secure wallet.
"First off, be aware that a chain-split creates a high-risk situation. There is a chance that some sort of cyber-battle will break out between the two camps, perhaps even escalating to the point where bitcoin’s exchange rate(s) drops sharply, possibly to zero. Make absolutely sure you are not holding more value in bitcoin than what you are willing to lose. If you do decide to hold onto your bitcoins, the single most important piece of advice is this: Ensure that you control your own private keys. If you are storing your bitcoins on an exchange, in a custodial wallet like Coinbase, Circle or Xapo, or on any other service that holds your private keys for you, you may or may not eventually receive coins on both ends of the chain. In fact, if these kinds of services aren’t well-prepared, there could be scenarios where you don’t get any coins at all. So far, no exchanges have given any kind of guarantee. So if you’re using any of these kinds of services to store your bitcoins, you need to create your own wallet. Send your bitcoins to one or several Bitcoin addresses in this new wallet. This wallet now holds your private keys." (bitcoinmagazine.com/...viving-bip-148-uasf/)
Of course, a simpler solution would be to sell your Bitcoin, which isn't very emotionally difficult to do during a correction, or if you are a day/trend trader. For this reason, I expect a mass exodus of money from the market as August 1st approaches. This final bounce may be the time to make your egress. If you are hodling, take the proper precautions detailed in the bitcoin magazine article below.
To recap
"1. Control your private keys.
2. To be on the safe side, avoid any transactions a day or two before, on, and shortly after August 1st. (How “shortly after” depends on what happens; it could take weeks.)
3. If there are still two (or more) chains when the dust settles, split your coins into different wallets."
If you follow these three steps, your transition into the new Bitcoin environment should be seamless.
What it means for the technical ~ steemit.com/bitcoin/ (there should be an 'at' sign but tradingview does not support that symbol) getdfs/btc-uasf-in-aug-2017-understand-bip148-and-protect-your-money
What it means for the hodler/trader ~ bitcoinmagazine.com/...viving-bip-148-uasf/
Poloniex statement ~ poloniex.com/press-r...017.03.17-Hard-Fork/
Bittrex statement ~ support.bittrex.com/...al-Bitcoin-hard-fork
Gdax statement ~ www.coindesk.com/gda...in-withdrawals-uasf/
So what does this mean for you? Bitcoin will be an unstable store of value at and around August 1st on many exchanges and in many non-upgraded wallets. Some exchanges may close transactions with Bitcoin or even with many altcoins for a short time. There will be a high risk of losing funds if they are not kept in a secure wallet.
"First off, be aware that a chain-split creates a high-risk situation. There is a chance that some sort of cyber-battle will break out between the two camps, perhaps even escalating to the point where bitcoin’s exchange rate(s) drops sharply, possibly to zero. Make absolutely sure you are not holding more value in bitcoin than what you are willing to lose. If you do decide to hold onto your bitcoins, the single most important piece of advice is this: Ensure that you control your own private keys. If you are storing your bitcoins on an exchange, in a custodial wallet like Coinbase, Circle or Xapo, or on any other service that holds your private keys for you, you may or may not eventually receive coins on both ends of the chain. In fact, if these kinds of services aren’t well-prepared, there could be scenarios where you don’t get any coins at all. So far, no exchanges have given any kind of guarantee. So if you’re using any of these kinds of services to store your bitcoins, you need to create your own wallet. Send your bitcoins to one or several Bitcoin addresses in this new wallet. This wallet now holds your private keys." (bitcoinmagazine.com/...viving-bip-148-uasf/)
Of course, a simpler solution would be to sell your Bitcoin, which isn't very emotionally difficult to do during a correction, or if you are a day/trend trader. For this reason, I expect a mass exodus of money from the market as August 1st approaches. This final bounce may be the time to make your egress. If you are hodling, take the proper precautions detailed in the bitcoin magazine article below.
To recap
"1. Control your private keys.
2. To be on the safe side, avoid any transactions a day or two before, on, and shortly after August 1st. (How “shortly after” depends on what happens; it could take weeks.)
3. If there are still two (or more) chains when the dust settles, split your coins into different wallets."
If you follow these three steps, your transition into the new Bitcoin environment should be seamless.
What it means for the technical ~ steemit.com/bitcoin/ (there should be an 'at' sign but tradingview does not support that symbol) getdfs/btc-uasf-in-aug-2017-understand-bip148-and-protect-your-money
What it means for the hodler/trader ~ bitcoinmagazine.com/...viving-bip-148-uasf/
Poloniex statement ~ poloniex.com/press-r...017.03.17-Hard-Fork/
Bittrex statement ~ support.bittrex.com/...al-Bitcoin-hard-fork
Gdax statement ~ www.coindesk.com/gda...in-withdrawals-uasf/