Even Bitcoin rookies have heard of the difficulties between Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Segwit. The two are essentially oil and water; once BCH is sent to a Segwit address, or vice versa, the underlying code tends to go awry. However, a Bitcoin miner recently proved that it is possible to unscramble the code and gain some profit in the process.
Antoine Le Calvez, who works as a data researcher at p2sh.info, was the first person to notice that an unknown user managed to use their technical skills and hash power to gain 493 BCH, which translates to roughly $610,000 USD.
Several users have previously reported that their BCH funds have gotten stuck in Segwit wallet addresses after the cryptocurrency is sent there by mistake. However, some user recently managed to unstick all the coins that were previously accepted as lost by their owners.
Once Le Calvez discovered this, he took to Twitter.
So far, it is likely that the responsible user went through the extensive trouble for personal gain. However, according to a Reddit post, this user could perhaps have done this out of compassion for frustrated BCH users. The post claims that the responsible user would refund all affected users with their lost cryptocurrency. While this sounds too good to be true, it’s not entirely unheard of. Some good cyber-Samaritans have performed similar altruistic acts in the past.
The user, which is only known by their Reddit name, bchsegwitrecover, stated in a Reddit post that they will return the lost currency to all affected users. Users looking to redeem their cryptocurrency simply have to send the user a PM or email to [email protected]. The user concluded the post by reminding affected individuals that their claim must be supported by details regarding the transfer.
However, the user does state that all parties seeking to reclaim their funds, will be charged a 30% fee. According to bchsegwitrecover, they will handle requests manually and asked for the affected parties' patience in this regard.
While the process of recovering lost BCH from a segwit wallet is complex, it is theoretically possible, especially when there is $600,000 at stake. The first step would require the user to get access to the scriptSig from receiving addresses. This, in itself, is a complicated process. Getting a scriptSig requires the user to convert P2SH-P2WPKH output. After which the user would have to apply a certain hash, include a checksum and network byte. Once this is concluded, the user needs to convert the number into a Base58 format before they have the scriptSig. This process needs to be repeated for every single affected segwit wallet.
Once a user has the scriptSig they can proceed to the second step which requires the user to technically mine the lost cryptocurrency, without notifying the rest of the network. The user is likely to have used a BCH solo rig for this purpose.
So far the responsible user’s identity is still unknown.
Even if every single affected BCH user reclaims their lost BCH, bchsegwitrecover stands to make $200,000 for his efforts.
Antoine Le Calvez, who works as a data researcher at p2sh.info, was the first person to notice that an unknown user managed to use their technical skills and hash power to gain 493 BCH, which translates to roughly $610,000 USD.
Several users have previously reported that their BCH funds have gotten stuck in Segwit wallet addresses after the cryptocurrency is sent there by mistake. However, some user recently managed to unstick all the coins that were previously accepted as lost by their owners.
Once Le Calvez discovered this, he took to Twitter.
So far, it is likely that the responsible user went through the extensive trouble for personal gain. However, according to a Reddit post, this user could perhaps have done this out of compassion for frustrated BCH users. The post claims that the responsible user would refund all affected users with their lost cryptocurrency. While this sounds too good to be true, it’s not entirely unheard of. Some good cyber-Samaritans have performed similar altruistic acts in the past.
The user, which is only known by their Reddit name, bchsegwitrecover, stated in a Reddit post that they will return the lost currency to all affected users. Users looking to redeem their cryptocurrency simply have to send the user a PM or email to [email protected]. The user concluded the post by reminding affected individuals that their claim must be supported by details regarding the transfer.
However, the user does state that all parties seeking to reclaim their funds, will be charged a 30% fee. According to bchsegwitrecover, they will handle requests manually and asked for the affected parties' patience in this regard.
While the process of recovering lost BCH from a segwit wallet is complex, it is theoretically possible, especially when there is $600,000 at stake. The first step would require the user to get access to the scriptSig from receiving addresses. This, in itself, is a complicated process. Getting a scriptSig requires the user to convert P2SH-P2WPKH output. After which the user would have to apply a certain hash, include a checksum and network byte. Once this is concluded, the user needs to convert the number into a Base58 format before they have the scriptSig. This process needs to be repeated for every single affected segwit wallet.
Once a user has the scriptSig they can proceed to the second step which requires the user to technically mine the lost cryptocurrency, without notifying the rest of the network. The user is likely to have used a BCH solo rig for this purpose.
So far the responsible user’s identity is still unknown.
Even if every single affected BCH user reclaims their lost BCH, bchsegwitrecover stands to make $200,000 for his efforts.