After the hard fork on 1st August 2017, most bitcoin users who own the private keys to their Bitcoin (BTC) in their Blockchain wallet prior to that date could claim the equal number of Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

Today, we will explore one option of doing that, using the multi-cryptocurrency online wallet Coinomi.

As at time of writing, Coinomi is only available on Android and is downloadable from the Play Store. We are not sure if this wallet will be made available to iPhone and iOS users soon, but iOS users will need to find an alternative way for the time being.

For those of you who are using an Android phone, head to the Google Play Store and download Coinomi. If you’re reading this on your phone, click the Google Play icon (right).

If you have installed Coinomi previously, head to the Play Store and ensure that you have updated to the latest version.

The following procedure makes the following assumptions and with the requirements that:

• EITHER, the Coinomi wallet on your phone is newly installed from scratch. (See Steps a1 and a2 below)
• OR, the Coinomi wallet had been previously installed (See Steps b1 and b2)
• there are currently no funds of any cryptocurrency in the Coinomi wallet
• the latest version of Coinomi wallet is installed
• you will need to have the 12-word passphrase derived from your Blockchain wallet ready

Please note the following precautions before performing the procedure:

• Do NOT transfer any bitcoin within or out of your Blockchain wallet at any point. If you’re thinking of adding bitcoin from a different Blockchain wallet and merging them, please note that any movement of bitcoin after 1st August (even those which had been in your custody before 1st August) will be treated as newly recorded bitcoin and these will not be converted to Bitcoin Cash. I lost a fraction of a Bitcoin Cash because of this, as you will see below.
• The following procedure requires that the Coinomi wallet be restored. If you had used Coinomi prior to this, please note that this will override your existing wallet, and data from that may only be recovered if the recovery phrase for your Coinomi wallet is backed up. We have not tried working with an existing Coinomi wallet in use, and the steps below involve working with a fresh installation of Coinomi.

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The following guide is best viewed on your laptop or desktop monitor, while you work the procedure on your smartphone.

If you’re ready, we may begin!

First things first, if you have not done so, download and install the latest version of Coinomi from Google Play on your Android smartphone.

A. For Fresh Installation of Coinomi

A1. If you have not used Coinomi before, this is likely the screen you will see at launch. Click on Restore Wallet.

A2. Understand that you will be overriding your existing wallet, if any, in this step. Your existing wallet will be lost unless you backed up your recovery phrase. Click Confirm to proceed. Refer to Step 3 below.

B. For Coinomi Already Installed

B1. Launch the Coinomi wallet on your smartphone. Click on the menu toggle on the top right, and click on Settings in the drop down menu.

B2. In the list on the next screen, click Restore Wallet. Refer to Step 3 below.

Restoring the Wallet

3. Key in the 12-word passphrase in succession one word after another with space in between. Check that the 12 words are typed in correctly, and click Next. Leave the Use a BIP39 Passphrase box unchecked.

4. Type and re-type a secure password that you would normally use when handling finances. The password is required to be at a minimum of 10 characters. Click Next when done.

5. On this screen, select Bitcoin and click Finish.

6. View the Terms of Service and Legal Disclaimer and click Agree if you do. You have to agree if you want to proceed.

7. You will then see the Dashboard, showing you the balance of bitcoin that should tally with the amount in your Blockchain wallet. If this number does not tally, see footnotes below. Refer to Step 8 below to claim your Bitcoin Cash.

Claiming the Bitcoin Cash

8. Click on the menu at top left, and click on + COINS at the bottom of the menu.

9. Select Bitcoin Cash from the list.

10. Type BCC in the Description field, and key in your secure password. If this is the first time you are using Coinomi, key in a secure password that you would normally use as a wallet password. Click on Advanced Settings below the Password field. Do not click Add just yet!

11. Key in M/44H/0H/0H in the Derivation path (BIP32) field. That’s zeroH/zeroH. Now click Add.

12. Your Bitcoin Cash (shown as BCH) balance will begin with zero. Previous BTC transaction records prior to 1st August will now be registered one after another…

13. …until the final Bitcoin Cash figure is displayed. And there’s your Bitcoin Cash! Congratulations!

We hope that you have managed to secure your Bitcoin Cash with the guide above. You may share this article with friends and those whom you know could benefit from some free Bitcoin Cash through the Share Buttons below.

If you discover that your Bitcoin Cash (BCH) figure does not tally with your bitcoin (BTC) figure in Coinomi or your Blockchain wallet (like I did in the above guide), it could likely be that some of your bitcoin in your Blockchain wallet is sitting in a different wallet address, or that you could have moved those bitcoin around after 1st August 2017.

Share with us your experience in the Comments section below.

Disclaimer: Cryptopeia assumes no responsibility and is not liable for any damages or losses in cryptocurrency funds as a direct or indirect result of the exercise above. You are advised to observe all warnings and precautions, and to carry out due diligence and research on any matter you may not be sure about before proceeding with anything.