Forks and Air Drops
CRA-8.1.14
Licensees must have written procedures for dealing with events such as forks (hard, soft or temporary forks) or air drops from an operational and technical point of view.Added: April 2023CRA-8.1.15
Where a
licensee supports a new protocol, it must ensure that changes in the underlying protocol of acrypto-asset that result in a fork are managed and tested proactively. This includes temporary forks which should be managed for reverse compatibility for as long as required.Added: April 2023CRA-8.1.16
Where a
licensee supports a new protocol, alicensee must ensure that their clients are able to deposit and withdrawcrypto-assets in and out of the wallet as and when requested before and after a fork (except during go-live). Clients must be notified well in advance of any periods of time when deposits and withdrawals are not feasible.Added: April 2023CRA-8.1.17
Where the underlying protocol of a
crypto-asset is changed, and the older version of thecrypto-asset is no longer compatible with the new version and/or there is an entirely new and separate version of thecrypto-asset (hard fork), alicensee , where it supports a new protocol, must ensure that client balances on the old version are reconciled with the new version of thecrypto-asset . This includes availability of reverse compatibility for as long as required. Alicensee must maintain transparent lines of communication with their clients on how they are managing clientscrypto-asset holdings in such a scenario.Added: April 2023CRA-8.1.18
In the case of a hard fork, a
licensee , where it supports a new protocol, must proactively manage any discrepancy between the balances recorded on the previous version versus the new version by engaging with the entity which is responsible for updating and supporting the underlying protocol of the relevantcrypto-asset . Additionally,licensees must ensure that, where they seek to offer services in relation to thecrypto-asset associated with the new version of the underlying protocol, this newcrypto-asset meets the requirements for acrypto-asset and that they notify the CBB well in advance of offering the newcrypto-asset as part of their activities.Added: April 2023
