Updates on the Ethereum Merge and Potential Chain-Splitting Hard Forks

Sep 14, 2022ETH

Disclaimer: This is a general announcement. Products and services referred to here may not be available in your region. Please refer to T&C for more details.

The Merge of the Ethereum Mainnet to the proof-of-stake (PoS) Beacon chain is estimated to take place at 1:30AM UTC on Sep 15, 2022. This timing is subject to change, depending on when the Paris upgrade, the execution layer portion, is complete — when the proof-of-work (PoW) chain reaches the Terminal Total Difficulty (TTD) value of 58,750,000,000,000,000,000,000.

One hour before The Merge, at approximately 12:30AM UTC on Sep 15, 2022, Bybit will suspend deposits and withdrawals of ETH, ERC-20 tokens and NFTs of the ERC-721 standard. Deposits and withdrawals of ETH assets on the Arbitrum, Optimism, BSC and zkSync chains will be suspended until the airdrop is issued. Any ETH deposited during the period when deposits and withdrawals on Arbitrum and Optimism chains are suspended will not be included in the snapshot.

Do note that this timing is an estimate, depending on when the TTD value is reached.

Please ensure sufficient time for deposits and withdrawals.

The following two scenarios may arise from The Merge:

Scenario 1:

There is no new token created. Bybit will resume the deposits and withdrawals of ETH, ERC-20 tokens, NFTs of the ERC-721 standard and other ETH-related product functions. Users will be notified accordingly via our Announcement Center and social media channels.

Scenario 2:

A chain-splitting hard fork creates two competing blockchains and a new token. The ticker for the Ethereum PoW Mainnet and its forked token will be "ETHW". Bybit will take a snapshot of users' ETH equities and airdrop ETHW forked tokens to users at a ratio of 1:1. The ETHW forked tokens will be airdropped to your Bybit Spot account, and the airdrop's completion will be announced accordingly.

To ensure the safety of your assets, it is recommended that ETH deposits on Bybit are made in advance. For users holding ETH and ERC-20 tokens, Bybit will handle any technical issues arising from The Merge and potential hard fork tokens. The solutions are as follows:

A. Airdrop Rules

A.1 Snapshot Time

At the time of the Paris layer upgrade, when TTD value is reached, Bybit will take a snapshot of users' ETH equities.

Note: As the time of the chain-splitting hard fork cannot be accurately estimated, Bybit will take a snapshot every minute after the TTD value is reached. The snapshot data closest to the time of the chain-splitting hard fork will be deemed as the final snapshot result.

In the event of large market fluctuations, please avoid fund transfers, trading and other functions to ensure snapshot accuracy. Your final account equity will be determined by the snapshot.

A.2 Snapshot Parameters

Main and Subaccounts, Spot accounts, Derivatives accounts, Unified Margin accounts, Earn accounts (including Bybit Savings and Liquidity Mining), Custodial Trading Subaccounts, Funding account, Trading Bot accounts.

A.3 Snapshot Rules

ETH deposits that are not processed and ETH withdrawals that are pending at the time of the snapshot will not be included in the snapshot data. Please be sure to deposit and withdraw ETH in advance.

Unrealized gains and losses in Derivatives accounts will not be included in the snapshot.

If you have any outstanding ETH loans at the time of the snapshot (including negative interest in the Unified Margin account), you will have to repay the airdrop tokens generated by the lender's ETH.

A.3.1 Earn Accounts

- The ETH function of ETH/USDT liquidity pools supports airdrops. Users' liquidity consists of the corresponding amount of ETH and USDT. Only the principal ETH amount will be calculated in the snapshot, and the USDT amount will not be included. If users opt for leverage when adding liquidity, the loan amount will be subtracted for calculation.

- Due to the nature of the Dual Asset product, the settlement currency of the users' principal and interest cannot be determined before maturity, so it will not be included in the snapshot scope.

A.4 Completion Time

Bybit estimates finishing the airdrop distribution of ETHW forked tokens within eight (8) hours following successful completion of The Merge. Deposits and withdrawals of the ETHW forked tokens will open at a later time, once the Ethereum PoW Mainnet is live and deemed to be stable.

B. About Bybit Products

Spot Trading: Spot trades of ETH and other ERC-20 network tokens will not be affected. The ETH Spot currency pair will be the PoS token after The Merge is complete.

Margin Trading: Margin trading of ETH trading pairs will not be affected. The lending function will be suspended from 12AM (midnight) UTC on Sep 14, 2022 to 12AM (midnight) UTC on Sep 16, 2022. Users who buy ETH by borrowing non-ETH tokens can still get airdrops. If the price of ETH fluctuates drastically, your position may be liquidated. Please manage your risk accordingly.

Derivatives: Trading of ETH-related Derivatives contracts will not be affected. Bybit Derivatives contracts may be subjected to additional protective measures, including but not limited to:

1. Adjustment of margin levels and their associated trading parameters such as maximum leverage, position values and maintenance margins.

2. Updates on the funding rate, price index and mark price related calculations.

3. The maximum funding rate and order price limits are as follows:

If a new token is created after a hard fork, the price index will track the ETH ticker of the main Spot trading platform. Should there be changes in the underlying asset, Bybit will announce more details and/or updates.

Options: Trading of ETH-related Options contracts will not be affected, while the strike price of existing Options contracts will remain unchanged.

Based on possible market risk, ETH-related Options may temporarily adjust the margin collection method, including the standard margin model and the portfolio margin model. If a new token is created after a hard fork, the Option price index will track the ETH ticker of the main Spot trading platform as the index and the underlying asset.

Over-the-counter (OTC) Lending: OTC lending will not be affected. If you hold ETH assets, forced liquidation may occur when the price fluctuates significantly. Please manage your risk accordingly.

Bybit Earn: Users will not be able to add liquidity to the ETH/USDT Liquidity Mining pool for 15 minutes during The Merge. Removal of liquidity from the ETH/USDT Liquidity Mining pool will not be affected.

Other ETH-related products on Bybit Savings (Fixed or Flexible Term) and Dual Asset will not be affected. During a hard fork, prices may fluctuate drastically. Please ensure you understand the potential risks and invest wisely.

Buy Crypto: Bybit's Buy Crypto will suspend ETH-related transactions and advertising during The Merge. The estimated suspension time will start at 7AM UTC on Sep 14, 2022, and will resume after The Merge is completed. Affected products include card/wallet payments, balance transactions, third-party transactions and P2P trading.

NFT Marketplace: Bybit NFT Marketplace will suspend the deposits and withdrawals of NFTs of the ERC-721 standard at the time of The Merge. After confirming the stability and security of the ETH network upgrade, NFT transactions will resume.

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