SCI Ventures Inc.’s Contentious Hard Fork Policy

The following policy reflects SCI’s position on contentious hard forks that create new versions of Bitcoin, and in the future other cryptocurrencies.

As a matter of principle, SCI will not blindly support any particular proposed fork for political reasons. This means that SCI will not advocate for or against any particular hard fork. We understand that miners have discretion to commit hashing power to whatever projects they find economically viable, including alternative protocol implementations.

However, we have a solemn duty to our clients, who might demand tokens on each chain in case of contentious hard fork. Contentious hard forks present extremely high risk to all concerned. As we value greatly our client funds, we shall take prudent measures to protect funds during uncertain times such as when new versions of Bitcoin are created by the fork.

In the event of a contentious hard fork, SCI will suspend transactions until the stability of the relevant chains are established. Having in mind the protection of client funds, SCI will need to ensure that a transaction is not being replayed on both chains. Unfortunately, there is lack of robust two-way replay protection in some proposed forks. Consequently this means that we must take enhanced measures geared toward safety of client funds. In addition to suspending deposits and withdrawals for bitcoin (or other cryptocurrencies), we may take various approaches at the moment of the fork, which could include marking or ‘tainting’ client bitcoins thereby guaranteeing that withdrawals would not be replayed on both chains . This process could potentially require days or even weeks to complete.

In light of this information, we would like to inform our users that SCI’s Bitbit Wallet by default, does not automatically support hard fork coins. Each fork will be assessed thoroughly and support will be determined by multiple factors such as user demand and fork viability. The recommended action for those who prefer immediate access to their fork coins is to move coins to a wallet where one can control the private keys such as a Trezor or Ledger Nano hardware wallet. In the event that we do support a hard fork, we will enable access only after the fork and after we have determined that each blockchain is secure and stable. We expect this to happen weeks after the fork, but it could potentially take longer if unforeseen risks and circumstances emerge.

Here is a list of upcoming forks in the Bitcoin network.

1. Super Bitcoin (SBTC): A smart contract (like Ethereum) based Bitcoin. Block 498888. http://www.supersmartbitcoin.com/index.html.
2. Bitcoin Platinum (BTP): According to the site, “Satoshi’s original vision of Decentralized Electronic Cash.” Around December 12th. Blocks 497757 / 498533. https://bitcoinplatinum.github.io/ko.html TIP: Bitcoin Platinum is rumored to be fake see: Bitcoin Platinum Created By South Korean Teenager As a Scam, Local Market Erupts.
3. Bitcoin Cash Plus (BCP): According to the site, “fulfilling the original promise of Bitcoin.” Around January 2nd, 2018. Block 501407. http://www.bitcoincashplus.org/
4. Bitcoin Silver (BTCS): According to a BitcoinTalk forum, the coin aims to “Make Bitcoin Decentralized Again.” Apparently it occurs “in December.” The site was up, but now its down. That doesn’t bode well. https://bitcoinsilver.io/ — so see bitcointalk.org instead — https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2311582.0.
5. Bitcoin Uranium (BUM): According to a BitcoinTalk forum, the coin aims to “Make Bitcoin Great Again.” Apparently it occurs “in December.” https://bitcointalk.org/index.php?topic=2316506
6. Bitcoin God: No premining, it’s apparently a Christmas Present from Chinese Angel Investor Chandler Guo. Occurs Dec. 25. https://cointelegraph.com/news/forgive-me-father-for-i-have-forked-investor-to-release-bitcoin-god

We assure that in any event, SCI will issue periodical announcements to keep our clients updated.