SPV Wallet Bread Lets Users Decide During the Segwit2x Hard Fork

This week the popular bitcoin wallet app for iOS and Android, Bread, announced its contingency plans towards the Segwit2x fork scheduled for this November. Bread says the Segwit2x fork is more complicated due to the lack of built-in replay protection, but its number one priority is keeping customers funds safe and giving users a choice.

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SPV Wallets Follow the Most PoW By Default, But Bread Users Have a Choice

Bread is a well-known bitcoin wallet that has a solid reputation for security and safety as a non-custodial Simplified Payment Verification (SPV) client. The startup details in its announcement that many people have been asking the team about the upcoming fork. The wallet provider says one of the apps “greatest strengths” is the ability to connect to the Bitcoin blockchain. However, as an SPV wallet, the Bread client follows the chain with the most proof of work by default.

“As an SPV wallet, Bread performs a high-speed but simple verification to determine which chain has the most cumulative proof of work,” explains the Bread team. “However, it does not check or enforce rules regarding block size, which means SPV wallets (as designed today) will follow whichever chain has the majority of hashing power, regardless of the details that separate the two chains that will soon exist.”      

Not Our Job to Tell Users What to Think

This basically means that Bread users who don’t tether their wallets to a node of their choosing, by default they will follow the chain with the most cumulative proof of work. However, with Bread’s platform users can utilize the app’s node tethering function, which enables users to toggle between either a Core node or BTC1 node.

“Even with these issues at hand, Bread is still a great place to keep your coins during a fork,” Bread details. “We side with our users — And even though many of our users strongly disagree with one another about the merits of Chain A or Chain B, it is not our job to tell any of them what to think.”  

Bread is comprised of a group of individuals, any of whom will gladly give you their personal opinion on the matter, but as a company, we have to stay true to our two promises: Keep customer funds safe, and give customers a choice.

No Matter What Side Individuals Were On They Wanted Access to Both Chains

What the company learned this past August, during the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) fork was customers wanted their funds no matter which side they were on. Bread thinks it is the company’s duty to provide technical support for users who want access to both chains, and Segwit2x is no different.

During the next few weeks up until the pending fork, Bread says they will continuously communicate with their customers. There will be more Segwit2x announcements down the line the startup explains, and official news can also be found on Twitter as well.

“The context surrounding the 2x fork is quickly evolving and everyday individuals and companies make new announcements and endorsements — It is conceivable that the fork will fail to materialize, but as it stands today, we anticipate the split is highly likely to occur,” Bread’s announcement concludes.

What do you think about Bread’s statements about the upcoming fork? Do you think giving users a choice is a good idea? Let us know what you think in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, Pixabay, and Bread. 

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