The user-activated hard fork (UAHF) on the Bitcoin network is looming around the corner. Bitcoin Cash (BCC; BCH) is slated to break away as a new fork from the Bitcoin blockchain on August 1 at9:20PM JST or 12:20PM UTC.

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Multiple bitcoin exchanges have signaled support for Bitcoin Cash. This news comes alongside the inevitability that a UAHF event will occur.

Last week, Bitcoin.com detailed many of the exchanges and platforms that will be rejecting Bitcoin Cash (BCC), but now more appear to be settling into the idea that it will exist as a legitimate digital token. At the time of writing, futures of BCC are being traded on Viabtcs exchange for roughly $390.

Kraken

The large bitcoin exchange Kraken made an announcement yesterday in support of Bitcoin Cash. They said they will be providing users with the ability to trade it on their platform. They pledged to credit clients with an equivalent amount of Bitcoin Cash based on their current holdings of bitcoin.

Although the Bitcoin Cash fork is expected to be minor, it may be successful. Provided that unforeseen circumstances do not make it prohibitively unsafe or difficult for us to do so, Kraken will support Bitcoin Cash

However, Kraken warned margin traders on their platform to be very cautious across the fork. They were told to either greatly reduce their position or cease margin trading altogether to ensure a smooth transition. In the least, they should set stops and not rely on Kraken to function optimally while the fork is in progress.

Bitfinex

The bitcoin exchange platform Bitfinex also announced they would be supporting bitcoin cash. They plan on providing an amount of bitcoin cash tokens equivalent to that of bitcoin in their customers wallets.

They said, A minority of Bitcoin miners will be forking on August 1st, 2017 to create a newchain calledBitcoin Cash. The fork does not impact Bitcoin balances, but it creates a new token. At the time of the fork, all Bitcoin addresses holding a balance will automatically have equivalent balances in Bitcoin Cash.

The company, however, mentioned they will not be using BCC for the bitcoin cash ticker symbol. They said it is already in useon their platform. Instead, they will use BCH. The company will distribute BCH tokens with the UTC timestamp of the first forking block, which will occur August 1. Their page contains details on how they plan on ironing out the kinks and managing technical issues.

Besides exchanges, major hardware wallets manufacturers are also supporting Bitcoin Cash. Both Trezor and Ledger have provided details on securing bitcoin cash in their wallets when the fork occurs.

Trezor wallet said they can safely adopt bitcoin cash functionality with their wallets sincethe currency supports replay attack protection. They said, Bitcoin Cash has implemented the necessary protection againstreplay attacks, meaning Trezor can support the currency safely. We will provide an interface, accessible from Trezor Wallet, where you can access and safely claim your Bitcoin Cash coins. You will be prompted by Trezor Wallet once you select Bitcoin Cash in the currency selector.

As a result of the in-built replay attack protection, Ledger will also provide full functionality for bitcoin cash via their wallets. They say users will be able to gain access to bitcoin cash after the fork by using a special tool. They said users could view bitcoin cash currency as free air-dropped money.

As a result, all bitcoin holders will be granted a new duplicated Bitcoin Cash balance (literally airdropped free money) if the fork activatesthis post and the follow ups will describe how you can best secure this new balance, then decide to trade it, hold it or sell it as you wish.

Both hardware wallet companies wrote details on their page explaining how to respond to the fork and gain access to freshly minted bitcoin cash.

Several other exchanges and wallet providers are also signaling their support for the hard-forked token. Exchanges include Quoinexchange, Viabtc, Kcoin, Btcbox, Bithumb, Kex, Mercury Cash, Huobi,Quadrigacx, Toubi, Korbit, Bittrex, and Btcpop. Wallet providers who are adopting Bitcoin Cash include, Bitcoin ABC, Bitcoinclassic, Electrum Cash, and btc.com.

The exchange Quoinexchange said, We have also received many inquiries regarding BCC(Bitcoin Cash) crypto currency. As an exchange, our goal is to provide a fair exchange platform which is highly secure and compliant. As a result of the fork, users that hold BTC in their balances at the time of the fork will be credited equivalent BCC. If your account balance at the time of the fork holds 1 BTC, youwill be credited 1 BCC.

These announcements seem to suggest stronger community backing for the fork token. It does not look like the currency will die immediately in the rip and roar of the fork. The future of the digital asset remains uncertain, for sure.

However, the basic rules of forks still apply to everyone regardless of what happens: keep private keys safe. No matter what coin wins out, every bitcoin user should try to maintain their coins with their own securely held private keys. This ensures that control of both coins remain in the users hands.

Will bitcoin cash continueto grow after Aug 1? Will it have more supporters? Let us know in the comments section below.

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, bitfinex.com, and crunchbase.com

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Fork Watch: 'Bitcoin Cash' Support Grows as August 1 Draws Near - Bitcoin News (press release)