Bitcoin Cash users brace themselves for 'Change the Address Day'

Bitcoin Cash investors, exchanges, developers, and businesses are all eagerly preparing for the Change the Address Day which will change the cryptocurrency’s protocol address.
The entire Bitcoin Cash (BCH) community has been abuzz with excitement, as all community participants are readying themselves for the big “Change the Address Day” set to occur on January 14th. The event will see the BCH network adopting the new address format protocol suggested by the prominent Bitcoin ABC developer, Amaury Séchet.

Last month, reports from various news outlets surfaced confirming that the lead developer behind Bitcoin ABC, Amaury Séchet, suggested a change in the address form protocol in the BCH network. The latest format will use the bech32 codebase. After implementation, BCH will no longer be directed to bitcoin core (BTC) addresses. The newly suggested protocol change aims to enhance several aspects of the network.

For example, the protocol change will greatly enable the progress of Zero-Knowledge Proofs concepts, once it is added to the BCH network. In addition, the Cashaddr format will ensure more network efficiency with its stronger checksum, which in turn enhances QR coding. According to Séchet, the new format will also enable developers to create and deploy multi-party smart contracts in a more secure manner. The protocol change is welcomed within the BCH community, due to the increasing amount of users accidentally sending BCH to BTC addresses and vice-versa.

In a recent developer mailing list, Séchet wrote that the protocol change will greatly alleviate confusion within the community, and will also create a more cohesive ecosystem. However, the protocol change will require that all related crypto service providers, such as exchanges, wallets, and merchants, update their support mechanisms. This could take some time and delay the full integration of the protocol change.

To ensure full optimization as early as possible, a large portion of crypto-related businesses have already begun to develop support for the impending “Change the Address Day”. The blockchain-based company, Blockchair, confirmed that they are already developing support for bech32 BCH addresses. The developer behind Openbazaar, Chris Pacia, also confirmed that the marketplace platform is ready for the protocol change. Wallet providers, such as Edge, Stash, and Electron Cash, have stated that they are all prepared for supporting the Cashaddr format. In addition, crypto lending platform, BTCpop, also confirmed their ready support for the protocol change.

According to BTCpop’s statement, they will support bech32 addresses as of January 14th. The company also stated that they will provide a converter, wherein which users can convert their deposit address to the latest format. The platform’s withdrawal function will continue to support both formats.

A large portion of the BCH community seems ready for the impending address change set to occur in only three week's time. Several BCH advocates voiced their support for the upgrade and expressed their belief that the protocol change will go through without any problems.