Coinbase to credit users with Bitcoin Cash after lawsuit threat
Coinbase has told users that all account holders before August 1 will be credited with bitcoin cash (BCH) after it faced the threat of a lawsuit. An activist group formed by Coinbase users threatened to file a lawsuit earlier this month if the bitcoin wallet platform and exchange declined to credit users with BCH. The issue was later resolved when Coinbase released an official announcement, adding that it plans to support for BCH by 1 January 2018. It also plans to integrate BCH trading later next year.

Earlier this month, an activist group formed by Coinbase users created the Coinbase Bitcoin Cash Lawsuit Portal, to file a lawsuit against the world’s largest Bitcoin wallet platform and exchange if they declined to credit users with Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

The issue has now been resolved as Coinbase released an official company announcement to clarify that all account holders before Aug. 1 on Coinbase will be credited with BCH. Coinbase director of communications David Farmer wrote:

“We are planning to have support for Bitcoin Cash by Jan. 1, 2018, assuming no additional risks emerge during that time. Once supported, customers will be able to withdraw Bitcoin Cash. We’ll make a determination at a later date about adding trading support.”

Coinbase even plans to integrate BCH trading later in 2018, which not a lot of Bitcoin exchanges have done. So far, the big three Bitcoin exchanges in China including BTCC, Huobi, OKCoin and the South Korean Bitcoin exchange market’s two largest trading platforms Bithumb and Korbit have integrated BCH support.

Was the Coinbase lawsuit realistic?

The Coinbase Bitcoin Cash Lawsuit Portal threatened the Bitcoin industry’s only billion dollar company with a class action lawsuit led by attorney Priyanka Ghosh-Murthy. She confirmed Fortune that a complaint on invoking negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment will be filed in Florida.

“Meanwhile, an attorney named Priyanka Ghosh-Murthy told Fortune she intends to file a complaint—invoking negligence, breach of fiduciary duty and unjust enrichment—in Florida by the end of the week,” Fortune reported.

However, prior to the Aug. 1 hard fork, Coinbase, as well as its digital assets exchange arm GDAX, clarified in official company blog posts that they don’t intend to support the BCH fork. The two companies emphasized that they are not confident if they can support it securely.

Adam White, vice president of GDAX, stated:

“This means if there are two separate digital currencies — Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCC) — customers with Bitcoin stored on GDAX will only have access to the current version of Bitcoin we support (BTC). Customers will not have access to, or be able to withdraw, Bitcoin Cash (BCC). Customers who wish to access both Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCC) need to withdraw Bitcoin stored on GDAX before 11:59 p.m. PT July 31, 2017. If you do not wish to access Bitcoin Cash (BCC) then no action is required.”

Considering the fact that Coinbase did clarify to its users prior to the hard fork execution that the two companies will not be supporting BCH, whether the lawsuit would have been realistic still remains in question.

Already, Coinbase and GDAX have published updates on their stance on Bitcoin Cash and the two platforms may even integrate BCH trading by early 2018.