Bitcoin advocates warn cryptocurrency owners to have their Bitcoins in their wallets and out of exchanges before Aug. 1

 The battle over a soft or hard fork for Bitcoin may be coming to a head as early as Aug. 1, and Bitcoin advocates are warning owners of the cryptocurrency to have them out of Bitcoin exchanges before that date and downloaded onto their Bitcoin wallets to protect them from any loss or confusion should the expected change occur.

As of now a solution known as the user-activated soft fork (UASF) is expected to go live on Aug.1, but it is not without risk, especially if your Bitcoins are stored on an exchange where in the past segregation of ownership has been dicey at best. 

 

A new initiative designed to help Bitcoin users with the upcoming fork advises them to maintain 100 percent control of their Bitcoin, rather than keeping it in exchanges. 

The reality is clear - most Bitcoin blocks hit the block size limit of 1 MB and are plagued by fees and slowdowns. The solution, though, is still up in the air as debate rages about how change should happen. 

One solution, the user-activated soft fork (UASF) is scheduled to go live on August 1, while another competing group has threatened to split the chain if that occurs.
1August.org claims to be a neutral third party designed to help users understand and navigate the upcoming fork, and how to best protect their Bitcoin. Because a fork would create duplication, the best solution for users is to be able to transact on both chains, should a fork occur. 

At this time, they are advising that users maintain 100 percent control of their Bitcoin, rather than keeping it in exchanges such as Coinbase or Bittrex. The only way to completely control Bitcoin is to be in control of your private keys on either a wallet application or a paper wallet. 

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