Bitcoin.com is offering downloads of a “Bitcoin wallet” that is not actually what it says.
On November 20, 2017 Bitcoin.com updated their Bitcoin Wallet on Apple’s App-store. Bitcoin.com’s version 4.0.2 update creates Bitcoin Cash wallets by default and allows users to sweep private keys to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash wallets.
Unfortunately the owner of the Bitcoin.com domain, Roger Ver, is doing a bit of bait-and-switch, and the user is actually downloading a Bitcoin Cash wallet. A user thinking they are downloading an actual Bitcoin wallet where they can easily send and receive Bitcoin, however, actually ends up installing one that operates on the Bitcoin Cash network, which makes it unnecessarily difficult for that user to receive Bitcoin.
Suppose Alice is using the Bitcoin Wallet by Bitcoin.com and wishes to send 10 Bitcoin to Bob, and Bob is using an ordinary Bitcoin wallet. Bob would never receive the transaction that Alice sent, because the two users are on different networks. Despite the similarities in the names, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are two completely different coins, and a transaction on one chain does not affect the other chain.
Revenge of the big blockers
Many are viewing the bait-and-switch as an act of revenge against Bitcoin.com owner and Bitcoin Cash evangelist Roger Ver. Despite being an adamant supporter and early adopter of Bitcoin – he was once referred to as “Bitcoin Jesus” – Ver is firmly in the camp of the “big blockers.”
He was a big supporter of the proposed SegWit2x fork, betting Trace Meyer 25,000 BTC that SegWit2x would dominate legacy Bitcoin if the fork happened. Now that the fork has been called off, Ver has decided to throw his support behind Bitcoin Cash. Many have taken to calling him “Bitcoin Judas.”
Legal action?
Users of the /r/Bitcoin subreddit are furious. One such user, 1mystical, wrote:
This is also a real good way to open yourself up to a Civil Tort for Damages. This is blatant misrepresentation, and anyone that relies on this and loses money in the process is going to have a field day in court with this clown.
Unless and until Ver decides to rename his wallet so that it correctly refers to the network on which it operates, it is important for consumers to be aware of the possibilities and limitations that come with Version 4.0.2 of the Bitcoin wallet by Bitcoin.com.
Correction: At the time of writing, network compatibility between the Bitcoin network and the Bitcoin Cash network on the Bitcoin wallet by Bitcoin.com appeared to be an issue. However, it is not the case that transactions will be incompatible between the Bitcoin network and the Bitcoin Cash network; sweeping private keys to obtain your Bitcoin that was sent from a Bitcoin Cash address is not required, and addresses are the same across both networks.
