Coinbase: Current bitcoin blockchain will still be the "Bitcoin" after Segwit2X hard fork

10/25/2017 - 11:27 UTC
Coinbase send an email to its customers detailing the company's position on the two upcoming Bitcoin forks: Bitcoin Segwit2x and Bitcoin Gold.

Coinbase sent an email to its customers detailing the company's position on the two upcoming Bitcoin forks: Bitcoin Segwit2x and Bitcoin Gold.

The San Francisco, California-based company notes it operates by the principle that the customers "should benefit to the greatest extent possible from hard forks or other unexpected events".

Coinbase: Current bitcoin blockchain is "Bitcoin"

With regards to Bitcoin Segwit2x, which will probably take place on November 16, Coinbase says that it will result in two separate "bitcoin blockchains". This is not news, of course. However, Coinbase states that it will continue referring the current bitcoin blockchain as "Bitcoin". This will surely let down supporters of Segwit2X upgrade, the chain of which Coinbase will call "Bitcoin2x".

Unsurprisingly, Coinbase assures that customers with a Bitcoin balance on Coinbase at the time of the fork "will be credited with an equal amount of the Bitcoin2x asset on the Bitcoin2x blockchain", without any action required by users.

Coinbase to BTC holders: We will automatically credit your account with equal amount of Bitcoin2x

Thus, anyone with X Bitcoin stored on Coinbase before the fork, will have X Bitcoin and X Bitcoin2x after the fork. Free money!

Coinbase urges customers to see their Segwit2X FAQ page and a related blog post for a detailed timeline of events.

No Support for Bitcoin Gold, for now

As for Bitcoin Gold, which occurred at block height 491,407 on October 24, Coinbase will not support it at the moment. This is attributed to "limited information" and "concerns about its security and stability". 

Despite not supporting Bitcoin Gold at this time, Coinbase is quick to note that if "the new blockchain proves to be secure and valuable, Coinbase may choose to support it".

Coinbase has also a FAQ page about Bitcoin Gold.

 

 

Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice on Bitcoin, Cryptocurrencies or finance in general.