List of Upcoming Bitcoin Forks

Over the year of 2017, there have been several forks in the Bitcoin blockchain, resulting in the birth of several new cryptocurrencies – Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, Bitcoin Diamond being some of the more prominent examples. Every time there is a fork in the Bitcoin blockchain, pre-existing Bitcoin holders will usually receive a similar amount of the forked currency in their wallets.

Hard Fork VS Soft Fork

According to CryptoCurrency Facts, a hard fork is when a single cryptocurrency splits in two. It occurs when a cryptocurrency’s existing code is altered, creating a new version of the coin which will co-exist with the old version. Meanwhile, a soft fork is essentially the same thing, but the idea is that only one blockchain – and thus one coin – will remain at the end of the fork as users adopt the update. Thus, both fork types create a split, but a hard fork will result in two coins, while a soft fork will create just one coin. To put this into perspective, Segwit was a soft fork, Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin Gold, and Segwit2x are all hard forks.

What Are Some Upcoming Bitcoin Forks?

1. BitcoinX (BCX)
   • Forked at Block 498888.
   • Happened on the 12^th of December 2017.
   • This fork creates a smart contract-based Bitcoin (like Ethereum)

2. Super Bitcoin (SBTC)
   • Forked at Block 498888.
   • Happened on the 12^th of December 2017.
   • Like BitcoinX, Super Bitcoin is also a smart contract-based Bitcoin.

3. Bitcoin Platinum (BTP)
   • Forked at Blocks 497757 / 498533.
   • Happened on the 12^th of December 2017.
   • According to the site, Bitcoin Platinum is “Satoshi’s original vision of Decentralized Electronic Cash.” However, according to CoinTelegraph, Bitcoin Platinum is rumored to be a scam.

4. Lightning Bitcoin (LBTC)
   • Forked at Block 499999.
   • Happened on the 23^rd of December 2017
   • This fork is meant to provide “lightning fast payments” for its users. Uses smart contracts and can host decentralized apps like Ethereum (and Super Bitcoin).

5. Bitcoin Cash Plus (BCP)
   • Forked at Block 501407.
   • Happened on the 2^nd of January 2018.
   • According to the site, the purpose of Bitcoin Cash Plus is to fulfill “the original promise of Bitcoin.”

6. Bitcoin Silver (BTCS)
   • Forked Block Unknown.
   • Happened in December 2017.
   • According to a BitcoinTalk forum, the coin aims to “Make Bitcoin Decentralized Again” and it appears to be a token sale (an Ethereum-based ICO).

7. Bitcoin Top (BTT)
   • Forked at Block 501118.
   • Happened on the 26^th of December 2017.
   • Bitcoin Top is like Bitcoin Cash with Segwit and privacy protection.

8. Bitcoin God (GOD)
   • Forked at Block 501225.
   • Happened on the 25^th of December 2017
   • This coin requires no pre-mining, has no central team (in theory), smart contracts, large blocks, POS mining, lightening network enabled, zero-knowledge proof, etc. It’s apparently a Christmas present from Chinese angel investor Chandler Guo.

9. Bitcoin Segwit2x “2.0”
   • Forked at Block 501451.
   • Happened on the 28^th of December 2017
   • According to the CoinTelegraph, the Bitcoin hard fork Segwit2x is rumored to be back again after being canceled at the last minute back in October 2017 (at the time it was meant to occur at block 494784. This newer iteration of Segwit2x seems to have no direct relation to the last Segwit2x fork other than its name.

10. Bitcoin Interest (BCI)
    • Will fork at Block 505083.
    • The fork happened on 22^nd of January 2018 11:59 PM GMT.
    • A proof of stake Bitcoin fork. In other words, holders of BCI will be paid interest for holding the coin.

11. Bitcoin Atom (BCA)
    • Will fork at Block 505888.
    • The fork happened on January 24, 2018.
    • Bitcoin Atom is a SegWit-enabled Bitcoin fork with atomic swaps, hybrid consensus, and lightning network.
12. bitcoinClean (BCC)
    • Will fork at Block 518.800
    • The fork will happen Tuesday, April 18th, 2018, 4:30 am (UTC)
    • bitcoinClean will be the first coin mined only with renewable energy. It relies on a network that is powered by Solar, Wind, Hydro, Thermal, Biogas or Tidal energy. It aims to overcome the issue of vast energy consumption with high carbon emissions for mining digital currencies by exclusively using renewable energy.

These forks appeal to the average Bitcoin investor because they will receive a duplicated copy of the new coins in proportion to their existing Bitcoin holdings every time a fork occurs. Wallets like Coinomi as well as exchanges like Binance are known to support forks and provide their users with the forked coins every time a fork occurs.

FEATURED IMAGE COURTESY OF CRYPTO ECONOMY