[Megathread] On August 1, 2017 at 6:12pm UTC (block 478559), a new altcoin called Bcash (BCH) has been created using Bitcoin's transaction history. Bitcoin itself continues to function normally.

What is happening?In what has been touted as the culmination of a multi-year scaling debate, on August 1, 2017 at 6:12pm UTC (block 478559) a new altcoin was created from Bitcoin. The new altcoin is known as "Bcash" (BCH) or "Bitcoin Cash" (BCC) depending on which wallet/exchange you ask. In order to avoid confusion with actual Bitcoin and other altcoins, we recommend readers refer to the new altcoin as "Bcash" (BCH).As with all altcoins, Bcash is technically off-topic for the /r/Bitcoin subreddit. However, Bcash was created based on Bitcoin's transaction history, and therefore all Bitcoin owners should be able to retrieve an equal amount of Bcash with some effort. Your Bitcoins are just as safe as they were before the chain split, but you should take care not to compromise your private keys if you wish to retrieve Bcash. This is not urgent unless you wish to trade immediately. If you choose to retrieve your Bcash, please be aware that consolidating your UTXOs will impact your privacy on both chains.In order to help readers navigate this confusing situation and minimize disruption of relevant content, /r/Bitcoin has dedicated this sticky thread where readers can ask questions or leave comments pertaining to Bcash. If you are wondering how to retrieve your new altcoin holdings, please read the discussion thoroughly as your questions may already have been answered. If you don't see a similar question, please be sure to mention your wallet method and preferred exchange so that other readers can help address your concerns. You are also invited to submit new threads to the /r/Bcash subreddit if you so choose.If you would like to understand the motives behind this new altcoin, please read The Future of “Bitcoin Cash:” An Interview with Bitcoin ABC lead developer Amaury Séchet.But I thought we avoided a chain split?For those of you who thought we avoided a chain split with the activation of BIP91 a couple weeks ago, here's a very loose summary of what happened on the Segwit (BIP141, BIP148, BIP91) front:Bitcoin Core team deployed Segwit (BIP141) last yearMiners refused to activate Segwit via BIP9Users deployed UASF (BIP148 by shaolinfry) as an ultimatum set for August 1stMiners activated BIP91 (by James Hilliard) on July 20th to defuse UASF (BIP148) ultimatumBIP91 successfully defused UASF (BIP148) by enforcing Segwit (BIP141) signalingSegwit BIP141 is expected to lock in on Tuesday, August 8thSegwit BIP141 is expected to activate on Monday, August 21stAnother altcoin like Bcash called "SegWit2x" (B2X) may be created in SeptemberDespite all the progress we're making in scaling Bitcoin both on-chain and off-chain, the Bcash crew has decided to part ways with the Bitcoin project by creating a new altcoin. The key differences are that they are attempting to gut Segwit from their forked client, as well as increasing the deprecated max_block_size attribute to 8MB.Various Announcements:Electrum 1 - Electrum 2 - Trezor - Ledger - Coinbase - Breadwallet - Bitfinex - Airbitz - Blockchain.info - Exodus - Jaxx - Kraken - Bittrex - Greyscale - Yobit - Bitcoin Core - Bitstamp - [Mycelium]() - [GreenAddress]() - BitcoinTalk - (Reply in comments to add other services)/r/Bitcoin wishes Bcash a happy farewell and the best of luck in their new venture! via /r/Bitcoin http://bit.ly/2hlCM9t