What's going on?
For a few years, there has been a large debate in how to handle scaling in Bitcoin - currently, most blocks are hitting the blocksize limit of 1 MB, resulting in high fees, low transaction throughput, and slow transactions.
There have been several attempts to solve this scaling issue. Unfortunately, none of them have been a clear victor, leading to multiple factions being formed. Each faction favours their solution and believes opposing factions will lead to the ruin of Bitcoin.
Currently, one of these proposals, known as the User Activated Soft Fork (UASF) is scheduled to go live on 1 August, 2017. Another group of miners has stated their intention to create another fork of the Blockchain if UASF is indeed activated, splitting the Bitcoin chain into two.
1August.org does not aim to pick sides in this debate. Our purpose is to help the regular bitcoin users safeguard their coins prior to a fork.
What should I do?
When a Cryptocurrency forks, it results in duplication. Any transactions, and coins that were present prior to the fork are valid on all subsequent chains. It is in your best interest to control your coins in a manner that gives you the flexibility to transact on both chains. A well-known previous example of this is the Ethereum and Ethereum Classic split.
The only way to protect yourself in the event of a fork is to ensure that your Bitcoins are under your control. If your coins are stored on an exchange such as Coinbase, Bittrex, Bitfinex etc. or on an online wallet such as Blockchain.info, you are forced to use whichever bitcoin fork they choose to support.
To completely control your bitcoin, you must be in control of your private keys. A private key is what allows you to spend your Bitcoin, and must be kept safe. There are two ways to be in complete control.
Wallet Applications - Also known as hot wallets, these are programs that run on your computer or mobile phone that are capable of generating Bitcoin addresses, creating transactions, and more. Most such programs allow you to export your private key, which can then be imported into another wallet application. These wallets allow you to make Bitcoin transactions without giving up the power to maintain control of your coins in the event of a fork. However, due to being stored on your device, they are more susceptible to theft through malware and hackers.
Paper Wallets - Also known as cold storage, paper wallets are Bitcoin addresses generated on a device with no internet access, and then printed out and kept safely. They have the advantage of being far more secure, as the only way to access your Bitcoin is to physically access the paper wallet. They also have the disadvantage of not being able to easily use your Bitcoin, as you would first need to import the wallet into a wallet application connected to the Bitcoin network, or manually create and sign transactions on an offline device, before broadcasting the signed transaction from a connected device.
I want to secure my Bitcoin!
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