Mail from Circle to Bitcoin account holders:

Potential Bitcoin Changes

We wanted to provide you with some important information regarding potential changes to Bitcoin that could significantly impact bitcoin held in your Circle Account.

As described in our User Agreement, “Bitcoin is a decentralized currency that operates on open source software protocols which can be used, modified or adapted by anyone… As a result of the decentralized nature of Bitcoin it is possible that sudden, unexpected or controversial changes (“forks”) can be made to Bitcoin.”

Based on recent developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem, it now seems likely that one or more forks of Bitcoin may occur in the near future. Any fork of Bitcoin may have a significant impact on the value of bitcoin and your ability to access the bitcoin you hold with Circle.

What should I do?

The only way to avoid the potential negative consequences of a Bitcoin fork is to not hold bitcoin. Just go to Settings > Currency and convert your balance to dollars, pounds or euro (availability is based on where you live). You’ll then be able to hold those funds with Circle or cash out instantly.

What if I want to keep holding Bitcoin?

Your best option is to send your bitcoin to an exchange or wallet that will support multiple forks of Bitcoin. You can do this by generating a Bitcoin address on such exchange or wallet and then using your Circle app to send your full Bitcoin account balance to that address.

What if I leave my Bitcoin with Circle?

If a fork of Bitcoin occurs, Circle may be forced to suspend all Bitcoin activity (including sending bitcoin and receiving bitcoin) for an extended period of time. During this time you will have no access to your Bitcoin-denominated Circle account balance and Circle cannot guarantee what will happen during a fork of Bitcoin or when access to bitcoin may be restored. Further, Circle may choose to never support certain forks of Bitcoin even if they potentially hold value – and such value will potentially be lost to you.