TREZOR, the popular cryptocurrency hardware wallet by SatoshiLabs has announced some key points regarding the potential Bitcoin split due to the numerous questions received from users of their product. The team said that “your bitcoins, if protected by TREZOR, are in the safest place even for an event, such as a chain-split.”
TREZOR General Advisory for August 1st
Users can take precautions during these times of uncertainty. Due to the possible disruption in the Bitcoin network, TREZOR recommends not sending or accepting bitcoin transactions from July 31st until the network stabilizes. Moreover, the TREZOR Shop will temporarily stop accepting bitcoins from July 31st (CEST) until further notice.
In the case of a chain-split, nothing will happen to bitcoins protected with a TREZOR, just remember not to send coins during the period of uncertainty. If the network will split permanently, users will end up with two (or more) types of Bitcoin in their TREZOR wallet.
It is also recommended to read the announcement from Bitcoin.org.
So what happens to my bitcoins?
Before any of the SegWit proposals activate, there will be no chain-split, meaning that there is only one Bitcoin. No matter which node you connect to, everyone is using the same Bitcoin. In TREZOR Beta Wallet, users might be using the “standard” Bitcoin wallet, but they will see the same balance in the BIP148 UASF Wallet.
TREZOR Users: Not Affected
The team said that if bitcoins are protected with TREZOR, users of the wallet do not need to worry about them. Being that TREZOR is coin-agnostic, it is merely a signing device and does not care which blockchain it interacts with. If the chain splits, TREZOR says they will do their best to support most, if not all of them. Then, the only thing that matters is which node to connect TREZOR to.
If a user is connected to a legacy node, they will continue using legacy Bitcoin. If they are connected to a UASF node, they will be interacting with BIP148 Bitcoins. If they are connected to a SegWit2x node, they will see SegWit2x Bitcoins. Moreover, users can switch between these nodes, like they can switch between other cryptocurrencies.
Of course, users can take precautions not to lose any coins. The important thing is not to send or receive any bitcoins during the times of uncertainty. Do not believe coin splitting services or any too-good-to-be-true deals. They are often just scams, trying to steal coins. In any case, as stated above, user’s coins will be split automatically, since they own the private keys to the original Bitcoin. If the network forks, so will their coins.