Summary:
- Crypto exchange Bitfinex has launched Chain Split Tokens for ETH users.
- The feature was announced as the Merge is a few weeks away.
- Chain Split Tokens would allow users to trade possible tokens from a hard fork of Ethereum’s network.
- Prominent miner Chandler Guo previously disclosed plans to maintain an ETH Proof-of-Work ecosystem by forking ETH’s chain during the transition to Proof-of-Stake.
- The new tokens are split across the tickers ETHW for POW tokens and ETHS for POS coins.
- Some other platforms and protocols have declared their stance on hard forks and support for the Merge.
Major crypto derivatives exchange Bitfinex announced the launch of Ethereum Chain Split Tokens (CSTs) on Tuesday in a bid to prepare users for all possible outcomes of the Merge, ETH’s upgrade from Proof-of-Work to Proof-of-Stake.
Chain Split Tokens refer to coins generated from a forked blockchain. They are associated with cryptocurrency hard forks and such tokens emerge when more than one version of the original chain exists.
In Tuesday’s announcement, Bitfinex said these new CSTs would be assigned two tickers – ETHW for possible hard forked coins and ETHS for post-merge tokens. The crypto exchange also disclosed that trading pairs for both sets of tokens would be available.
Bitfinex CTO Paolo Ardoino stressed the importance of this feature as a mechanism to cover all eventualities ahead of the Ethereum Merge.
Protocols Prepare For Ethereum’s PoS Transition
Indeed, today’s announcement signaled that Bitfinex would provide support for forked coins. The possibility of such tokens flooded the crypto community after major ETH miner Chandler Guo announced plans to create an ETH PoW fork.
Although Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin opined that a hard fork is not a threat to the Merge and that PoW proponents have a better product in ETH Classic, Chandler Guo’s proposal has gained some steam.
Tron founder Justin Sun pledged 1 million to the PoW ecosystem if the hard fork succeeds.
Indeed, not every protocol or company has declared a stand similar to Sun’s. Chainlink announced full support for the Merge. The oracle solution said there is no room for hard fork tokens, per reports.
Notably, crypto exchanges Deribit and OKX said forked coins could be listed if they boast sufficient demand.
Ethereum’s PoS upgrade is scheduled to occur on or around September 15. At press time, final test runs are underway following a successful Merge simulation on the final public testnet dubbed Goerli.
