[smogcutter]

This is less like an arbitrary handout from a third party and more like a stock split. If you hold a security, you generally have no idea whether its been lent to a short. The idea of "your" stock being lent doesn't even really mean anything - the shares are fungible. So when the stock splits (or a company is spun off as in the paypal example, etc), you'd be awfully surprised to find the value of your stake halve because the new stock went to the short.

[repomies691]

It is most definitely not a stock split, but a free handout. Anyone can create a shitcoin at any time that gives "free shitcoins" to all bitcoin, ethereum etc holders. In fact, that is clever marketing for the altcoins because then the shitcoin gets attention, possible support from exchanges etc.

[smogcutter]

Is it possible to fork bitcoin in such a way that BTC holders can't get the new coins? If not, then it's not just a handout. The fact that anyone can fork it is an unfortunate property for your money to have that doesn't change what's happening here.

[an_account]

BCH _feels_ like a stock split. Where it's not like a stock split is that literally anybody can create a new blockchain just like BCH and give everyone who owns BTC a coin on this new blockchain. In that regard, it _feels_ more like a handout.

[dx034]

It's not really a stock split (where you get multiple shares for the same company) but a company split. If a company splits itself into two parts (e.g. Amazon to be split into retail and AWS) they can distribute shares of both new companies to the shareholders of the old company. In that situation you have the same problem. If the new AWS shares are not traded and you were short Amazon, you would have to cover AWS shares and therefore buy them.

In reality it's not an issue with large companies because it happens rarely and there are so many shareholders that a market would appear quickly.

[clarky07]

It's not that either though. if AWS left amazon that would be value leaving amazon stock and going to the new aws stock. in this case there is no value leaving bitcoin. bitcoin is still the same. someone just decided to start a new coin, and instead of starting from scratch, they are copying the bitcoin blockchain up to this point and giving everyone who has a coin now a new coin that has no real value to speak of yet. it doesn't do anything, isn't accepted anywhere, and currently functions worse in every way (these could all change in time, but for now they are true)

Anyone, anywhere, anytime can fork bitcoin and give away new worthless coins. Forcing shorts to go an buy all the worthless coins is simply unreasonable.

[smogcutter]

Fair, and Levine points this out in the article. He also observes that part of what makes bitcoin tricky and non intuitive is that if it worked like a company spinoff, not much new value should be created. Post split the price of BTC plus BCC should more or less equal the old BTC price, but that hasn't happened, because these are tulip bulbs.

[filmackay]

It's not a stock split (which would issue you more BTC), but a demerger - or a spin-off. This is where a company gives out shares in proportion to existing shareholding. It's like BTC has "spin off" BCH which was part of BTC - but now trades independently. I'd say a LOT of people do not understand this, because the price of BTC should have fallen, which I guess makes sense since this BTC has no entitlements and therefore is driven, a little like gold, on future expectations or speculation.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demerger

[nullc]

Except that many people believe these new shares are worthless, so the price drop should be ~$0. Don't assume the market doesn't know this and isn't telling you this already.

(And before you say something about the bcash price not being zero: right now there are no functioning markets where you can deposit any to sell it.)

[clarky07]

it's not a spin off though. nothing is leaving btc. no value is going away. someone else just created something out of thin air. also, bch was never a part of btc. it's simply something new that is using the past history of btc as a starting point, which creates new coins out of thin air, and distributes them to all the holders of btc.

No part of this makes sense for a short to have to go and buy bch.

[lmm]

There's no charter of incorporation for bitcoin. To a large extent it is what everyone agrees it is. I think people recognize that BCH is as genuine a "coin" as BTC whereas BCM wouldn't be.