Segwit Coinbase Bittrex Exchanges Wallets
As we all know the long awaited segwit2x soft fork is approaching and times are really heating up. I would like to share some of my understandings on the subject in hopes that people will grasp a better understanding of what is upon us.
First and foremost no one wants to lose their money. With that being said lets take a look at some of the exchanges. The coinbase team, vows not to support a user activated hard fork (UAHF). A user activate hard fork would imply that the chains will be splitting on August 1st; this is simply not the case. Segregated witness (SEGWIT) is a soft fork that is a backward compatible way to upgrade the wallet software on the bitcoin blockchain, resulting in a TEMPORARY split as new rules are brought forth. Nodes that are upgraded must reach consensus of the majority to signal the new rules. This is not the same as a hard fork because nodes that do not upgrade will be mining empty blocks so to speak; but there is no separate coin being created.
In the event of an actual hard fork the chains will split completely and run parallel; thus creating two versions of the same coin with seperate rules. If you would like to enjoy both coins from a potential hard fork all you have to do is remove your coins from the exchange and into your own PRIVATE KEY CONTROLLED WALLET. Doing so will keep your coins on the blockhain while it splits thus creating two coins. Coins mined after the hard fork will represent a different set of rules and will not be doubled. If you would not like to enjoy the (UAHF) coin, simply keep your coins on the exchange where they will prevent buy, sell, send, and receive orders during the fork , also keeping you from obtaining the (UAHF) coin. Trading sites like bittrex are also implementing some wallet maintenance . It will take you 6 conformations on the blockchain to send and receive funds from this service at this time. I can imagine that being much too long for most peoples enjoyment. I hope someone will benefit from this information, lets go blockchain!!