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I'm new to cryptocurrency in general, and I'm still learning.

Let's say someone moves BTC to a multi-signature wallet with a trusted provider, i.e. Greenaddress, before the split from an exchange.

This now does not provide him with Bitcoin Cash too.

Can someone please explain the process of obtaining the Bitcoin Cash that goes with his wallet's Bitcoin?

It seems that one can move to a wallet that does support Bitcoin Cash.

But I'm not clear on the concept of the transfer of private keys/addresses from a wallet that does not support Bitcoin Cash to a wallet that supports Bitcoin Cash.

Is this possible, and how does it work?

Would this transfer happen by simply converting Bitcoin to BCC, or would the BTC holder keep the BTC balance and gain a BCC balance in addition?

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3 Answers 3

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Unfortunately if you had a default GreenAddress wallet (2of2) it is too late - you had to move funds out prior to bcash being born as per the blog post.

This is because the bcash altcoin (rightly) uses an anti replay protection mechanism which prevents the bitcoin transaction to be replayed on the bcash blockchain. This applies for both transactions made from the wallet as well as the timelocked recovery ones.

If you used a 2of3 wallet you can technically make any transaction type you want (on either chain) but you will need to use ad-hoc tools (if they exist) or create a new program/script that does what you desire given 2 keys in the multisig - however this is not very simple and error prone.

GreenAddress can't take or use the bcash coins either because of the multisig.

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  • // , Lawrence, thanks for the breakdown. Let's say I have a lot of bitcoin in a 2of3 GreenAddress account. Do you know whether anyone else is working on anything like the ad-hoc tools you mentioned? I would be willing to start, if not.
    – Nathan Basanese
    Commented Aug 12, 2017 at 0:59
  • // , May I know if there is a specific reason you did not suggest the 2of3 recovery? blog.greenaddress.it/2of3recovery I'm trying it out now with one of my accounts. :/
    – Nathan Basanese
    Commented Aug 12, 2017 at 7:03
  • // , BTW, the instructions generate the following error on a fresh 16.04.3: E: Package 'python-socksipy' has no installation candidate. Maybe replace with python-socks in the 2of3 recovery instructions?
    – Nathan Basanese
    Commented Aug 13, 2017 at 19:08
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    Hi - i think that version of Electrum is deprecated anyway because of Low S and those patches I don't think will work nicely with a recent version. GreenAddress recently released a new command line recovery tool, see github.com/greenaddress/garecovery
    – Lawrence Nahum
    Commented Aug 15, 2017 at 19:19
  • // , OK, thanks, Lawrence. Should I comment on the 2of3 recovery instructions (which, btw, are still linked from within the client) or will GA update those docs directly?
    – Nathan Basanese
    Commented Aug 15, 2017 at 20:03
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Unfortunately, if your wallet/exchange does not support BCC, then you have probably forfeited it i.e. left it to their disposal. The only way to find out would be to message their support and see if it is supported. If it is, you will automatically have a balance of both. There are a few exchanges supporting BCC trade including bitrex.com (or have a look at coinmarketcap.com → Bitcoin Cash → Markets)

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  • // , Why does not using the private key mean that it's forfeited? I don't see how they could generate the same private key as me on a separate chain.
    – Nathan Basanese
    Commented Aug 12, 2017 at 7:04
  • If the exchange holds your private key they hold your bitcoin. Whoever had the private key before hand owns both coins
    – Josh
    Commented Aug 12, 2017 at 10:53
  • // , Oh, OK. I can see this as the case for exchanges, but not for wallets. The wallet maker does not have my BCC left "to there disposal" if they do not support BCC in their client. I thought you were referring to both exchanges and wallets, and it's how your answer reads, I think.
    – Nathan Basanese
    Commented Aug 13, 2017 at 0:38
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NOTE: I have not tried these out, yet, as I'm still researching. But given the time sensitivity of this question, I would like to post what I have so far:

Step 1: Make sure you are using a 2of3 GreenAddress "SubAccount". You can find them in the GreenAddress interface under the heading Accounts in your Settings, as shown in the following screenshot:

Settings -> Accounts -> 2of3 Accounts

Step 2: Follow the Recovery Guide that they mentioned to recover some Bitcoin from a 2of3 account to an Electrum wallet, all except for the last step, "send to another wallet".

https://blog.greenaddress.it/2of3recovery/

If I understood this correctly from a quick read, it looks like it imports seeds and generates appropriate private keys directly, rather than involving the Bitcoin network in any transaction.

Step 3: Verify that you have the same private keys in the Electrum wallet as exist in the GreenAddress wallet.

You should see your balances in an interface like this:

Step 4: Follow instructions to use Electrum Private keys to get BCH:

https://bitcoinmagazine.com/articles/beginners-guide-claiming-your-bitcoin-cash-and-selling-it/

Don't do the "sending them to another wallet" part just yet /\ Not just yet! /\

Before the send to another wallet ("And once you are connected you can go to the Send tab and recover all your wallet funds by sending them to another wallet of your choice.") step, sweep the private keys into a BCH wallet.

Step 5: Send the bitcoin in the subAccount from which you swept private keys into Electrum back to a new 2of3 GreenAddress wallet, or another Bitcoin wallet.

Further research/testing in progress, please comment

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  • // , Make sure to sudo apt install cython, sudo pip install jnius, sudo apt install default-jdk and export JAVA_HOME=/usr/lib/jvm/java-8-openjdk-amd64 before you try this on Ubuntu 16.04.3. Once you have imported the GreenAddress 2of3 into Electrum, you can try copying the BIP39 seeds to Electron. Electron's wallet import won't work, AFAICT. hastebin.com/imituqanom.bash
    – Nathan Basanese
    Commented Aug 13, 2017 at 20:18

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