bitcoin

HitBTC Statement on possible Bitcoin fork

plainsight ,

Dear traders,

As you may know, Bitcoin Core is undergoing some important scaling improvements. Here is some historical background on what is happening now:

Segregated witness or SegWit is the backward compatible protocol upgrade that was originally proposed by Bitcoin Core development team as a part of scaling strategy. SegWit could have been initially activated through BIP141 if 95% of hash power had signaled readiness to upgrade within single difficulty period before November 15th, 2017. Shortly afterwards users decided to stimulate miners’ decision making to upgrade and announced BIP148 as known as UASF (user activated soft fork), scheduled on August 1st. From this date their nodes would have rejected all blocks that are not signaling readiness for BIP141.

Meanwhile in May 2017 the critical mass of Bitcoin ecosystem, i.e. users, miners, companies, developers etc., agreed on SegWit activation through BIP91. Consequently only 80% of hash power, signaling for readiness, is needed to activate BIP91 and proceed with SegWit adoption. That is what has happened on July 23d. Since then miners have to orphan every block that is not signaling readiness to SegWit. But they might not do this and proceed mining blocks on non-SegWit chain. As a result there is a potential threat of Bitcoin’s hard fork.

At the same time as BIP91 was activated, the launch date of Bitcoin Cash (BCC) was scheduled on August 1st, 2017, 12:20pm UTC. Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of Bitcoin’s chain and initially was developed to prevent the UASF via BIP148. It doesn’t support SegWit and has three main features: the block size of 8 MB, integrated replay and wipeout protection and new way of signing transactions. So the likelihood of potential split has enhanced.

Here is HitBTC’s official statement on this issue:

  • HitBTC stands for SegWit activation. We believe that planned changes and improvements will receive strong community support and result in the technology efficiency and prosperity. We hope that all the negative scenarios, political issues and malicious acts will stay on the sidelines and Bitcoin community will make a weighted and appropriate decision.
  • Customers’ funds security is our highest priority. We will suspend Bitcoin and its tokens USDT, MAID and AMP deposits and withdrawals from July 31st till August 2nd to protect users from replay attacks and network instability. The timing may vary, we will keep you informed about any updates.
  • If there is no chain split and the Bitcoin blockchain functions properly, we will resume deposits and withdrawals.
  • Even if the UAHF happens, we will take all the necessary technical steps to support the new blockchain. We will fund every Bitcoin holder with the newly born asset.
  • For the sake of your assets security we advise you to limit the number of Bitcoin transfers and keep your funds in one place. HitBTC assures its users that all Bitcoin funds, holding on exchange, will be safe during the uncertainty of potential chain fork.

We are monitoring the updates on SegWit adoption and will keep you informed about further mitigations. Stay tuned.

HitBTC team

Important: possible Bitcoin hard fork and Bitcoin Unlimited arrival

Danko ,

Dear traders,

We want to inform you today about upcoming events and the measures we’re taking to get ready for a possible Bitcoin hard fork.

 

What’s been happening?

The Bitcoin network has been experiencing issues lately. One of critical network restrictions (1 Mb block size limit) has turned out to be insufficient for current user requirements. Transaction speed has decreased, transactions are getting stuck, time is being wasted.

People aren’t happy, and a new project called Bitcoin Unlimited has arrived, aiming to remove the only centralized point of control in the Bitcoin economy – the block size limit. Some network parties (nodes) aren’t showing any interest in Bitcoin Unlimited. But more and more nodes are beginning to support it and getting ready to operate according to its new rules. They can become the majority.

 

Is it something like Ethereum Classic?

The situation is not clear, but it could become something similar to Ethereum and Ethereum Classic. It means that in all likelihood, major changes are coming up. Here’s one of the possible outcomes: the BTC network may split into two separate networks: “usual” Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Unlimited (BTU). Two independent coins, sharing the same past. That is called a hard fork.

 

How does it affect me?

If you possess bitcoins, in case of a hard fork followed by a split you are entitled to the same amount of Bitcoin Unlimited.

 

What does HitBTC do?

HitBTC cares about the safety of your funds and aims to provide you with the tools for avoiding any risk. Here’s our plan:

  • We credit all our respective Bitcoin holders with the same amount of Bitcoin Unlimited. If you deposit bitcoins to your account, you receive both BTC and BTU at the same time.
  • We introduce a BTU/BTC trading pair, so it’ll be possible not only to store new coins on your account, but trade them as well.
  • We block BTC withdrawals temporarily. Why? Splitting one coin in two contains the risk of so-called replay attacks. In a nutshell, an attacker is able to carry off BTU coins while withdrawing BTC. It takes time to protect the network from replay attacks: 48 hours max from the start of the hard fork, but probably less. As soon as we make sure that your funds are safe, withdrawals will be unlocked.
  • We keep dialog open with our community. Should the hard fork not take place before the established deadline, a survey will be arranged. We will let our users decide what to do next.

 

 

Short summary

Any number of bitcoins deposited or already in your possession will be augmented by the same amount of BTU. This is effective from now until the hard fork, if it happens.
BTC and BTU withdrawals are locked. This is in effect from now until 48 hours after the hard fork. We care about the safety of your funds.
The BTU/BTC trading pair is at your disposal.

 

Show me how it works

You initiate a BTC deposit, and BTU deposit is created at the same time:

WhatsApp Image 2017-03-24 at 20.50.48

Done!

BTC BTU

The Latest transactions section:

BTC BTU

Start trading

Bitcoin in the News

liinas142 ,

Bitcoin is on a rather awesome climb again whilst the halving of the mining reward draws closer. There have also been some other recent interesting developments in the field of blockchain. In this article I will go through the recent events that have been shaping Bitcoin’s price in the very recent past. We are currently witnessing some rather interesting times. Financially, economically and also in the field of technology. On top of the halving of the reward that is predicted to happen around 26th of July there’s also another event of financial significance that is rapidly drawing closer – Brexit. I’m sure you’ve already heard, as you know, all of the news outlets keep banging on about it. Yes, Great Britain is having a referendum on the 23rd of June where people will decide whether they want to remain or leave the European Union.


Continue reading →

Bitcoin in April – Price Analysis

liinas142 , ,

We’re gonna start giving you a monthly overview of the Bitcoin price. Technical analysis is the key to success and trading profitably. This is why we’re going to do a monthly look back on its movements and giving you info on the indicators and support and resistance levels. This will help you have insight into what the price might be up to in the near future, helping you execute more profitable trades.

Continue reading →

Bitcoin Withdrawal Fees

vacavaca ,

As you all probably know Bitcoin is undergoing some changes and thus we also need to adjust to them. Change is always inevitable and mostly a good thing. Sometimes it can cause some inconvenience too and for that we are sorry.

What’s happening?

As the new Bitcoin Core version 0.12.0 is now available there are some changes that will affect you and our other traders. By this we mean our BTC withdrawal fees. Various improvements have been made to how the wallet calculates transaction fees and this is why we will have to update ours as well.

The new fee for withdrawing Bitcoin is 0,0002 and will be put in place from April 20th, 2016.

Read more about what this new version is about.

Bitcoin Debit Cards – a New Personal Banking Solution?

liinas142 ,

As the use of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies becomes more and more popular, we see an increase in products available. There are so many crypto apps available that serve  many different purposes. From smart contracts to securing a country’s health records to playing little addictive games – blockchain gives us so many wonderful new opportunities and features. It is said to revolutionize the banking system. Let’s have a look at some particular products that might help you send the banks packing. I am specifically talking about Bitcoin debit cards.


 Continue reading →

Bitcoin Success Stories

liinas142 ,

There are so many posts and articles on the technical aspects of the cryptocurrencies. I also mainly write about techy and how stuff works topics. But the stories that I enjoy most are about real people. Just like you and me. I always feel inspired and happy reading about true success stories from ordinary people. Cryptocurrencies aim to make the world a better place, let’s see how they’ve changed some people’s worlds or how people are changing the world with Bitcoin. Continue reading →

Crypto Apps: Ecosystem Around Bitcoin

liinas142 ,

Blockchain gave us Bitcoin and lots of other different cryptocurrencies. When people talk about Bitcoin it is normally in the context of the currency. It is mainly seen as a financial asset. Yet Bitcoin is only a very small part of the possibilities blockchain opens up to us. Alongside it so many different cryptocurrencies are developed on a daily basis. Some of the great new options that allows us to create are smart contracts, untraceable payments, safer banking and encryption and many more. We probably cannot even begin to grasp the potentiality that is about to manifest. All thanks to cryptography and blockchain. In this article however I would like to look at crypto apps.

  Continue reading →