Attention bitcoin holders: You can lose real BTC trying to sell coins from BIP-110 fork
ReadBitcoin holders stand to lose real BTC this weekend by trying to sell coins from a fork that may not even be worth anything.Here is how it goes. Bitcoin may split into two chains in the next few days. If it does, everyone who holds bitcoin ends up holding the same balance twice, once on each chain. Then someone offers to buy the new coins at an unusually good price. They look like free money, so selling them can seem like an easy win.But take the deal and the buyer can take the seller's bitcoin too. Both chains initially accept identical transactions — so a transaction signed to send the fork coins can also be broadcast on bitcoin. The buyer receives the same amount in actual BTC at the same destination.This is called a replay attack. The safest move for anyone who does not know how to separate the two balances is to leave the coins alone.How selling a fork coin can cost a holder real bitcoin. (Shaurya Malwa/CoinDesk)A replay does not drain the wallet. Only the coins put up for sale move, and they leave as real bitcoin rather than the fork version, with a transaction fee paid on both chains.
