Background
On Tuesday August 1st, 2017, at 12:20pm UTC, Bitcoin Cash, a new digital currency which has been gaining a lot of attention recently, will come to existence. Since Bitcoin Cash (BCH*) is a fork of Bitcoin (BTC), should you own and are in control of the private keys to your Bitcoin (BTC), you will have the ability to claim the same corresponding amount of Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
In preparation for this fork, users who wish to claim their Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are advised to move their Bitcoins (BTC) off hosted wallets and exchanges to a place where they can be in control of the private keys to their Bitcoin (BTC). With a few exceptions, hosted services such as Coinbase will not be giving their users the ability to retrieve their corresponding Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
What does this mean for Jaxx users?
As a multi-platform, multi-currency blockchain wallet, over the past many days, we have been flooded with requests to support Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Yesterday, we officially made the decision to work towards full integration.
Since Jaxx users are always in control of their private keys, corresponding Bitcoin Cash (BCH) will be safe in your Jaxx wallet. However, please know that you will not be able to access/send/receive your Bitcoin Cash (BCH) until the integration takes place.
The process of downloading and indexing the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain is lengthy. We are currently downloading the blockchain and expect indexing to start shortly. The indexing of a blockchain as big as Bitcoin’s has an unknown duration and could take anywhere from a few days to 1 to 2 weeks. You will be then able to claim them once Jaxx fully integrates Bitcoin Cash (BCH) into the wallet.
Recommendations for Jaxx users
Jaxx users wishing to claim their Bitcoin Cash (BCH) can do one of the following:
- Leave your Bitcoin (BTC) untouched in Jaxx until the full integration of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) goes live
- Send your Bitcoins (BTC) to an exchange that will be allowing users the ability to claim their Bitcoin Cash (BCH) such as our partner Bittrex
- Send your Bitcoins (BTC) to a wallet that will be allowing users the ability to claim their Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
- Export your Bitcoin (BTC) keys (see below) from Jaxx or send your Bitcoin (BTC) to a wallet that will be fully supporting both Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCC) at launch
As always, please feel free to reach out to us should you have any questions. For the latest news on this matter and for the latest news on Jaxx in general, please refer to our @Jaxx_io Twitter account.
For technical questions or support, please reach out to our customer success team here.
For more information about Bitcoin Cash (BCH), you can visit the following websites:
*Please note that we and many others are now referring to Bitcoin Cash as “BCH” due to “BCC” having already been claimed by another currency
Disclaimer
Please know that there are a lot of unknowns that can emerge in the blockchain ecosystem especially when hard forks occur. We will do our best to keep you informed and provide guidance, however it is your responsibility to fully understand the ins and outs of cryptocurrencies. Please visit Jaxx.io and familiarize yourself with our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy before using our product.
Steps for exporting your private keys from Jaxx
- Menu / Tools / Display Private Keys / Display Bitcoin Keys
- Export any Bitcoin (BTC) keys that have balances or any other Bitcoin (BTC) keys you wish
- See the instructions on the service you wish to import the keys into for further information