Ask HN: I have Bitcoin in Coinbase, what should I do before the forks?

Generally it's not a good option to let them sit on somewhere where you don't control the keys.. I would advise transferring them to a paper or hardware wallet like a Trezor, cheers

Convert it to ETH

You shouldn't keep it in coinbase regardless. I prefer the Nano Ledger S

I cannot find it on-line - but I have received a following message from Coinbase ():

""" Dear Coinbase Customer,

The User Activated Hard Fork (UAHF) is a proposal to increase the Bitcoin block size scheduled to activate on August 1. The UAHF is incompatible with the current Bitcoin ruleset and will create a separate blockchain. Should UAHF activate on August 1, Coinbase will not support the new blockchain or its associated coin.

The User Activated Soft Fork (UASF) is a proposal to adopt Segregated Witness on the Bitcoin blockchain and could result in network instability. It is scheduled to activate at the same time as the UAHF.

To ensure the safety of customers’ funds, we will temporarily suspend bitcoin deposits, withdrawals, and buy/sell starting approximately 4 hours before activation of either fork.

If you currently have bitcoin in your Coinbase account, and do not wish to have access to UAHF coins or have immediate access to your bitcoin, you are not required to take any action.

If you wish to have access to UAHF coins or you wish to have immediate access to your bitcoin, you should send your bitcoin from Coinbase to your external address by July 31.

For more information on how to send bitcoin from your Coinbase account, please refer to this article: https://support.coinbase.com/customer/portal/articles/971437.

Thank you,

Coinbase Team """

This is very worrying. If a split happens each bitcoin will exist on two forked chains, that is it will become two coins - both will have some value (even if minimal). And now Coinbase announces that it will let users withdraw only one of them. What will they do with the other? Sell it somewhere?

Maybe the email is fake?

Update: Looks like on their blog they changed the message:

""" Customers who wish to access both blockchains at the time of the hard fork should withdraw their BTC from Coinbase since we cannot guarantee what will happen during the hard fork or when this access may be available. """ https://blog.coinbase.com/update-for-customers-with-bitcoin-... that sounds a lot saner.

I am not an expert but I think the split will ruin the magic. And if the first split occurs then why not a second one in 2-3 years? I see the split happening as a massive chance for quick cash for the big players( even though I can't prove it with fact, just my guts saying). I hope I'm wrong and continue living the dream.