Everything you need to know about hard forks, forked assets, and how to claim forked assets.
Need a crypto wallet that gives you full control of your assets? You can download Exodus here.
In this article:
What is a hard fork?
A hard fork happens when a blockchain splits into two separate blockchains, usually due to a significant network protocol change.
Suppose miners, validators, or nodes disagree about the update and don’t adopt the same rules. In that case, the network splits: one blockchain continues with the original protocol, and the other follows the new protocol.
The new blockchain often copies the data from the original one. That means if you held crypto on the original chain at the time of the fork, you might also hold the same balance on the new chain.
Replay protection is sometimes added to prevent confusion and ensure transactions made on one network won't affect the other. To learn more, visit: What is a replay attack?
Does Exodus support forked assets?
Many blockchains have undergone forks, but not all forked assets gain long-term support, active development, or meaningful market value.
Exodus may or may not support a forked asset at the time of the hard fork or afterward. Support depends on several factors, including security, liquidity, and technical integration.
To check whether a forked asset (or any asset) is currently supported, visit our status page.
For more information, visit: Which assets does Exodus support?
How do I claim my forked assets?
Because Exodus is a self-custodial wallet, you have access to your 12-word secret key and private keys. This means you can manually claim forked coins from past or future hard forks, even if Exodus doesn’t support the forked asset.
Do your own research and verify the legitimacy of any wallet you decide to use. Scam wallets often target people trying to claim forked coins. If you import your private keys into a scam wallet, your forked and original coins will be stolen. If you have doubts about a wallet's legitimacy, don't use it.
If you'd like to claim forked coins, you’ll need to find a wallet that supports the forked assets and the ability to import your private key.
Once you've found a wallet you trust, you can view your Exodus private key and import it into the new wallet to access your forked funds.
Please be very careful with your 12-word secret key and private keys, because they control access to your funds. Never share them with anyone. Only import them into platforms you trust 100%. If you choose to import your 12-word secret key or private keys into a third-party platform, you do so at your own risk. To find out more, check out this article from our Knowledge Base: How do I keep my money safe?
Always do your own research if you want to claim forked assets. Claiming forked assets can expose your private keys, putting your funds at risk. Using forked assets may also expose you to replay attacks in certain cases.
If you choose to proceed, do your own research to ensure the wallet is legitimate and understand the risks involved.
If your funds are lost due to importing your 12-word secret key or private keys into another wallet, they cannot be recovered.
What should I do if I have unclaimed BCH, BSV, or BTG?
If you have unclaimed Bitcoin Cash (BCH), Bitcoin SV (BSV), or Bitcoin Gold (BTG), you can contact Exodus Support for details on how to claim your assets.
To contact Exodus Support, send an email to [email protected], or visit the messenger (purple chat icon in the bottom-right corner) to start a chat.
Exodus supports Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin SV (BSV), which means you can send them to Exodus once they have been claimed.
Exodus does not support Bitcoin Gold (BTG). Once you have claimed BTG, you can send it to a platform or wallet that supports it.
Claiming forked assets is only possible if you haven't claimed the funds yet and if you were eligible to claim at the time of the hard fork:
Bitcoin Cash (BCH): BCH was distributed to any address holding Bitcoin (BTC) at the time of the hard fork on July 31st, 2017.
Bitcoin SV (BSV): BSV was distributed to any address holding Bitcoin Cash (BCH) at the time of the hard fork on November 15, 2018.
Bitcoin Gold (BTG): BTG was distributed to any address holding Bitcoin (BTC) at the time of the hard fork on October 24, 2017.