Currently, there is growing support to split Bitcoin into two different currencies via a hard fork: Bitcoin Unlimited (BU) and Bitcoin Core.BU would remove the 1MB block size ceiling entirely.There is also another proposal, Segregated Witness (SegWit), which would be adopted through a soft fork and raise the block size ceiling to ~4MB and also allow for further protocol improvements like Lightning Network which would reduce the burden on block size even further with off-chain open payment channels.From a trading perspective, a hard fork creates great uncertainty in the near to medium term future.Ethereum is an example of a digital currency with a large market capitalization , currently at $3.9 billion, which went through a total of four hard forks, one of which split the currency into Ethereum Classic, which continues to be actively mined and traded.Although Ethereum recently made new all-time highs ( ATH ) in price and market capitalization, 2016 was a bearish year overall for the currency.

It is unknown how a hard fork would affect Bitcoin price, a digital currency with $17-20 billion market capitalization, but don't expect traders to welcome the move with open arms.It's possible that the hard fork reality is already being priced in, but the full ramifications of two different Bitcoins won't be known until after the hard fork occurs.Uncertainty generally creates bearish price action, and uncertainty regarding the underlying principles of the Bitcoin protocol certainly has many traders and investors concerned.Although BU could split off at any time , it is more likely that the hard fork would occur between at 51-75% miner support.Follow the BU and SegWit proposal signalling breakdown per block here .It is important to have a trading plan for every possibility and, because a hard fork is becoming more and more likely at this point, finding support zones on high time frames is important.Using information from the entire trend so far, beginning in late 2015, we can find these zones.

The most basic support can be found drawing a simple diagonal line from the extreme lows of the trend.A second mathematical support can be found using a large mathematical average of the previous price.I prefer the 200 period estimated moving average (EMA).Lastly, and perhaps the most important, drawing a fibonacci retracement from the high and low of the entire trend shows very obvious horizontal support and resistance zones.The 0.236 fibonacci level showing horizontal resistance of the 200+ day ascending triangle and horizontal support when the Bitfinex hack became public knowledge on August 2nd.The 0.5 fibonacci level showing horizontal resistance before a return to the previous ATH and showing horizontal support after the first of many People's Bank of China announcements.With the diagonal trendline, 200EMA, and 0.618 fibonacci level showing a strong confluence of support at ~$690, I would expect this to be the return to mean zone should price fall much further to the 50% retracement level at $758.

An example of this would be the rejection wick during the Bitfinex hack on August 2nd.Although price dipped far below the 200EMA, the close for the day occurred above the 200EMA.Unlike the Bitfinex hack, which occurred as a singular event and was over, a hard fork would represent ongoing uncertainty into uncharted territory.This would suggest an immediate return to mean may be less likely.For the immediate term, on the one hour time frame, a few things are beginning to emerge: 1.bitcoin cpanelRising wedge with resistance confluence at 50% fibonacci retracement 2.bitcoin bid askVolume consolidation and divergence 3.bitcoin comunidad ecuadorRelative strength index (RSI) support trendline A rising wedge is often a reversal pattern which can certainly break upwards but more often than not represents bearish price action upon resolution - in this case, bearish continuation.bitcoin dollar equivalent

The wedge gets tighter and tighter until a decision is made.Wedges like to break when ¾ full or greater, which brings the price to approximately $1100: a round even number representing psychological resistance which is also 50% of the most recent downward move.We also notice a descending volume profile which can be read in one of two ways.Either price is consolidating for a greater move in general, or, this represents a bearish divergence showing a higher highs in price on lower volume, which would suggest weakening bullish momentum.uang dari bitcoinLastly, the RSI is showing a support trendline with multiple touches.bitcoin investors twinsAn hourly candle close with RSI below this trendline would suggest a breakdown in price as well.can bitcoin mining make you rich

There is no divergence currently on RSI.The possibility and likelihood of a hard fork creates a substantial opportunity for large bearish price action.A basic trading plan for a large market event includes basic support and resistance zones of any given trend.In this case, a 50% retracement would bring price to ~$760 and a return to mean would bring price to ~$900.Watch for rising wedge resolution and a retest of the previous local low in the immediate term.bitcoin alarm iphoneThere has been a lot of forking-related questions recently.litecoin price dropThis thread serves to provide a platform to talk about forking and what it means to you as a Bitcoin user.Just like with everything, this is a work in progress and we need the community’s input on what it should contain.The below is just a primer.If you want to add to it, please leave a comment below with what you want to add.

If you have general questions about forking, feel free to post that in this thread’s comments too and others will try to answer.What is a hard fork?A hard fork is when a block is broadcast under a new and different set of protocol rules which is accepted by nodes that have upgraded to support the new protocol.In this case, Bitcoin diverges from a single blockchain to two separate blockchains (a majority chain and a minority chain).There will be two blockchains after a fork, is that right?Yes, that is correct.Some argue that having two chains is problematic, but that is only the case if you believe that the minority chain will survive and have more market value than the majority chain.Is a hard fork bad?Hard forks are just protocol upgrades.If you want to have a better designed Bitcoin protocol, periodically you will have to upgrade (fork) to make it happen.A planned fork is nothing to panic about.In fact, just like with Bitcoin halving every four years, protocol upgrades can be celebrated too.

What will happen to my bitcoin when a fork happens?Don’t worry, your bitcoin is safe!The most important thing as a user who wants to control their own money (bitcoin), is that you will want to store your bitcoin in a wallet where you have control over the private key.As long as you do that, post-fork you can spend your coins however you’d like.But if you leave your coins on an exchange for example where you may not have control over your private key, post-fork the exchange will have to determine which blockchain your coins belong to.When will the fork happen?Every fork is different, so generally speaking there isn’t one answer that can fit every scenario.Most recently the protocol upgrade that has caused the most news has been Bitcoin Unlimited (BU) and the consensus mechanism Emergent Consensus (EC is also supported by Bitcoin Classic), which removes the temporary Bitcoin block size limit like the original client and lets the free market decide what block size is best, allowing for on-chain scaling.

BU doesn’t have a set activation period.Once there is consensus among Bitcoin user nodes and mining nodes that signal an acceptable block size using BU, the blockchain will begin to diverge.For more information for miners on how to safely fork to BU, please read the ViaBTC Miner Guide.Has a hard fork ever happened before?Forks have successfully been implemented often in other cryptocurrencies.In fact there are very few instances of hard forks failing.On the Bitcoin blockchain there has already been one successful hard fork in the past.This hard fork was carried out in response to a serious bug found in Bitcoin that could be used to create billions of bitcoin.A hard fork was planned and carried out in a short amount of time to fix this big.Why is a hard fork likely to happen?A fork is likely to happen due to a fundamental disagreement between different groups of the Bitcoin community on how the Bitcoin protocol will progress in the future.A long and important debate has carried on within the community for the past several years and consensus has been unable to be found on a path forward.

A hard fork is one method for finding a way forward using using Nakamoto Consensus; read the Bitcoin whitepaper to understand the underlying architecture of how Bitcoin was built.I’ve heard about replay attacks when forking, what are they?When there is a chain split, you may end up with coins on both sides of the blockchain (two coins), for example Bitcoin Core (BTC-C) and Bitcoin Unlimited (BTC-U).A replay attack is when a user broadcasts both coins on both blockchains, taking advantage of exchanges that might not have protection against these attacks.Recently exchanges have reached out to the Bitcoin community for suggestions on the best way to handle these situations.How can I keep track of the ongoing consensus finding of the fork?There are many sites to keep track of how people are voting within the community.For example you can see how people are economically voting, how miners are signaling (also over last 1000 blocks), and how user nodes are signaling.If you're unsure, you can always submit a post and ask your peers what they think!