Bitcoin Gold Hard Fork is Approaching, 7 Major Japanese Bitcoin Exchanges Announce Bitcoin Gold Hard Fork Countermeasures

Rage Review : As the Bitcoin Gold hard fork of the Bitcoin network is approaching, Japan's seven major Bitcoin exchanges have announced their response plans last week. Japan's largest exchange Bitflyer plans to distribute and trade the new cryptocurrency; some exchanges are about to distribute the currency; others are taking a wait-and-see attitude.

Translation: Clover

Seven major Japanese Bitcoin exchanges have announced their plans for the planned Bitcoin Gold hard fork of the Bitcoin network. Japan's largest exchange, Bitflyer, plans to distribute and trade the new cryptocurrency. Some exchanges will only distribute the currency, while others will wait and see.

Bitcoin Gold Hard Fork

The Bitcoin Gold hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain is expected to occur at block 491,407, which is likely to occur on October 25. It is expected that a new cryptocurrency called Bitcoin Gold will emerge from the fork. In the past few days, major Japanese Bitcoin exchanges have announced their plans for the hard fork and how they intend to treat the new cryptocurrency.

Bitflyer

Bitflyer, Japan's largest bitcoin exchange by volume, announced on Saturday that its customers will be allocated a certain amount of bitcoin gold based on the amount of bitcoin in their accounts before the fork. However, the exchange has no plans to suspend services. The exchange wrote:

If Bitflyer deems the BTG [Bitcoin Gold] fork to be permanent and secure for customer assets, users will receive BTG on November 1 (tentative date) and will be able to buy and sell BTG on Bitflyer.

Additionally, the exchange detailed that “Bitflyer will provide BTG deposit and withdrawal services after fully observing the stability of the BTG blockchain after the fork.”

Coincheck

Coincheck announced plans for a Bitcoin Gold hard fork on Thursday. “We plan to offer Bitcoin Gold if a Bitcoin Gold fork occurs,” the exchange wrote. However, Coincheck explained that there are some circumstances where it may not be possible to offer the new cryptocurrency, including a lack of adequate replay attack protection, miner hash power, or other vulnerability protections. Additionally, if Coincheck decides that “the listing of Bitcoin Gold is not appropriate,” then the currency will not be distributed. Currently, the exchange has no plans to suspend service. The exchange wrote:

We are planning to distribute bitcoin gold after we confirmed its security and stability. We haven't determined the specific date and time yet.

We plan to distribute Bitcoin Gold after confirming its security and stability. However, the specific date and time of distribution has not yet been determined.

Bitpoint

Bitpoint announced on Friday that it will “distribute Bitcoin Gold to customers based on the amount of Bitcoin they hold at the time of the fork.” However, the exchange could delay the distribution of the new cryptocurrency if the new blockchain is unstable or there is a risk of replay attacks. Currently, the exchange has no plans to suspend services. Bitpoint added:

Regarding the newly generated Bitcoin Gold withdrawals, deposits, and trading services, since the security design of the newly formed blockchain has not yet been fully confirmed, it has not yet been determined how to handle the above services.

GMO Coin

GMO Coin announced on Saturday that it will distribute Bitcoin Gold to customers, but the specific time has not yet been determined. In addition, the exchange will suspend Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals around 20:00 on October 25. In addition, GMO Coin said:

Currently, the exchange does not plan to offer services such as buying and selling Bitcoin Gold.

Exchanges Not Planning to Distribute Bitcoin Gold

Some exchanges have decided to wait and see.

Zaif

Japan’s Tech Bureau’s Zaif exchange announced on Friday:

“We have decided not to distribute BTG for the time being, nor provide related services, including deposits, withdrawals, and trading.” However, the exchange added: “Once all concerns are resolved, we will consider whether to treat BTG like other currencies.”

Additionally, Zaif said it would not transfer the new cryptocurrency or trade it for other currencies “for purposes other than storage.”

Fisco

Fisco also issued a similar announcement on Saturday, saying: "We currently do not intend to issue, deposit, withdraw, or trade Bitcoin Gold (BTG)." In addition, the exchange warned that "Bitcoin deposits and withdrawals may be suspended around the expected fork date of October 25, 2017 (at which time we will make another announcement)."

Bitbank

Bitbank announced on Thursday that it will not distribute Bitcoin Gold to customers at the beginning of the fork, citing reasons including the incomplete state of the Bitcoin Gold code. However, the company will take a snapshot of customer assets at the time of the fork. The exchange also said it may "review it at a later date."