Bitcoin Cash has announced the introduction of the new BCH address format, which will be visually different from the old (legacy) addresses but still belong to the same wallet. Here’s an example of a new address:
bitcoincash:qpm2qsznhks23z7629
The benefits of the new address format are as follows: distinction, case-insensitivity, and extensibility. That means that it makes easier to actually type the address, and this format would not need to be changed in the future, along with the addition of the Bitcoin Cash functionality.
It’s worth mentioning that the new format triggers the updated visual representation only. It is neither a soft fork nor a hard fork.
How it Affects CEX.IO Users?
The new format for BCH addresses will be introduced this Sunday, on January, 14th. We at CEX.IO have already started implementing the new addresses. Next week we are planning to launch the support of CashAddr.
Please note that before this launch, you may receive the following error when withdrawing Bitcoin Cash from CEX.IO: ‘Invalid address’. To make the new format compatible with the old one, we highly recommend using this converter: https://cashaddr.
For your convenience, while we are going to launch the support of the new format, the old (legacy) addresses will be kept as well. Both addresses are interchangeable. We highly recommend using the new format where possible. If your sending wallet or exchange does not support new format yet, feel free to use the old one, displayed separately.