itBit, a bitcoin trading provider with exchange and OTC agency desk services for institutions and trading professionals has today made note of the proposed User Activated Hard Fork (UAHF) to increase the size of Bitcoin blocks that will effectively create a new coin called Bitcoin Cash on August 1, 2017, at 12:20 UTC.
itBit stated firmly it will not support the trading of Bitcoin Cash.
If customers want to access Bitcoin Cash immediately following the fork, they should withdraw their bitcoin to an external wallet address on or before July 31st, according to standard cutoffs. If customers leave Bitcoin on itBit, their Bitcoin Cash will not be immediately available for withdrawal. However, customers will continue to be able to withdraw and trade bitcoin.
From August 1 at 00:01 UTC to August 2 00:01, the day of the proposed fork, itBit will be undergoing the following safety precautions:
- Will not process any fiat or bitcoin withdrawals
- Will not be accepting bitcoin deposits
All fiat and bitcoin withdrawals on the exchange must be made on July 31st by itBit’s standard cutoffs to be processed before the fork. Fiat deposits may be made through the standard procedure.
Additionally, the exchange said withdrawal limits for customers with two-factor authentication will be increased through July 31, 2017. Any customer that doesn’t have two-factor authentication should enable that feature to be able to withdraw above the normal limits during this time.
Moreover, bitcoin trading will be halted from August 1 10:20 UTC to 14:20 UTC. During this time, customers will not be able to cancel trades. There may be significant changes to the price of bitcoin, so as a precaution itBit is advising customers to adjust or cancel open orders in advance.
The itBit team finished their notice by stating:
“We plan to resume normal operations on August 2nd at 00:01 UTC. However, we will notify all customers by email if there are any updates to the timing.”
“Going forward, we will work to support withdrawals on forked Bitcoin blockchains, including Bitcoin Cash, for customers with balances at the time of a fork. However, we always prioritize the security of our customers’ holdings and will develop appropriate procedures before implementation.”