A hard fork to increase the block size is planned for the bitcoin network on or around November 16, 2017, at block height 494784, to fulfill the latter half of the so called New York Agreement. With roughly 23 days left until the change and many counter-arguments strewn across the net, many bitcoin-based businesses are starting to reveal fork plans in greater numbers.
Also read: SPV Wallet Bread Lets Users Decide During the Segwit2x Hard Fork
Coinbase Reveals the Company’s Chain-Naming Plans
The Segwit2x fork is approaching, and everyone is starting to talk about it more, as many people and companies are steadily planning their bitcoin storage solutions. Crypto-businesses are now increasingly stepping up to the podium every day to announce their contingency plans for this particular fork. One such company, the San Francisco-based exchange, Coinbase, detailed its fork plans a couple of weeks ago. The exchange did not reveal at the time the names of each bitcoin-based blockchain. Now the firm is stepping forward to detail its token-split naming plans.
“The result of the fork will be two different blockchains, which means there will be two distinct digital assets,” explains Coinbase.
Following the fork, we will continue referring to the current bitcoin blockchain as Bitcoin with the symbol ‘BTC’. We will refer to the new blockchain resulting from the fork as Bitcoin2x with the symbol ‘B2X’. If the Segwit2x change is accepted by most users, we may choose to rename these blockchains at a later date.
Coinbase explains there will be no action required by their customers, and all users with a balance of BTC will receive B2X on a 1:1 ratio. The company’s support for buys, sells, sends, receives, as well as “services for both chains may be disabled several hours before and 24-48 hours after the fork.” The company also notes that Segwit2x doesn’t have replay protection, but Coinbase has initiated its own replay safeguard. David Farmer, the Coinbase director of communications, also wrote a separate blog post for the company, revealing its “timeline and support” for both Segwit2x and the bitcoin gold fork. However, the San Francisco company emphasizes that “there are concerns about its [bitcoin gold] security and stability.”
BTC.Com Will Implement Custom Replay Protection
This week the wallet provider BTC.com revealed its decision to support both sides of the chain after the fork, as it did with the Bitcoin Cash fork this past August. The startup’s recent blog post details that BTC.com wallet users can be confident they will be able to transact smoothly following the pending chain split. The reason for this is because the wallet provider says that it has designed its own form of replay protection.
“Wallet users’ transactions will be secured from being replayed (or rebroadcast) on both chains, a scenario which can cause a loss of funds while using wallets from organizations that have not taken this precaution,” explains BTC.com’s contingency plan.
We believe offering wallet-side replay protection is a crucial step toward providing a product that is more secure to transact with, and is a proactive solution to the evolving practical needs of cryptocurrency users.
Gatecoin Exchange Refuses to Support Segwit2x, Customers Must Withdraw 12 Hours Before Block 494784
The Hong Kong-based exchange, Gatecoin, explains the team flat out refuses to support the Segwit2x hard fork. The trading platform details that the lack of two-way replay protection for this hard fork is the main reason they dislike Segwit2x. Gatecoin also refers to the Segwit2x chains’ associated token as “B2X.” The exchange says it will not support B2X, distribute the token, process any B2X sent to their bitcoin wallet addresses, and it will not list the coin on the firm’s trading platform.
“Therefore, Gatecoin clients hoping to claim newly minted B2X coins equivalent to their bitcoin holdings at the time of the hard fork, will need to withdraw their bitcoin from our exchange at least 12 hours before the hard fork occurs at block 494784,” reveals the trading platform’s blog post.
We will however be running B2X nodes in case the software’s developers decide to add replay attack protection in the future.
Coinbase, BTC.com, and Gatecoin join the growing list of bitcoin-based companies revealing their plans for the Segwit2x fork. As the countdown gets closer to the end, cryptocurrency proponents will see where each business truly stands.
What do you think about the announcements from each of these companies? Let us know what you think in the comments below?
Images via Shutterstock, Coinbase, Gatecoin, and BTC.com.
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