Quote: "Dear Coinbase Customer, We wanted to provide an update on proposed changes to the Bitcoin network and what that means for bitcoin stored on Coinbase. You can read more about what a digital currency fork is https://blog.coinbase.com/what-is-a-bitcoin-fork-cba07fe73ef1. Our first priority is the safety of customer funds. In the event of a fork, customer fiat currency (USD, EUR and GBP) and digital currencies (bitcoin, ether and litecoin) are safe. On August 1st, 2017 there is a proposal to make changes to the bitcoin software. This proposal, known as Bitcoin Cash, is likely to create a fork in the Bitcoin network. This means that after August 1st, 2017 there are likely to be two versions of the Bitcoin blockchain and two separate digital currencies. In the event of two separate blockchains after August 1, 2017 we will only support one version. We have no plans to support the Bitcoin Cash fork. We have made this decision because it is hard to predict how long the alternative version of bitcoin will survive and if Bitcoin Cash will have future market value. This means if there are two separate digital currencies – bitcoin (BTC) and bitcoin cash (BCC) – customers with Bitcoin stored on Coinbase will only have access to the current version of bitcoin we support (BTC). Customers will not have access to, or be able to withdraw, bitcoin cash (BCC). Customers who wish to access both bitcoin (BTC) and bitcoin cash (BCC) need to withdraw bitcoin stored on Coinbase before 11.59 pm PT July 31, 2017. If you do not wish to access bitcoin cash (BCC) then no action is required. We plan to temporarily suspend bitcoin buy / sells, deposits and withdrawals on August 1, 2017 as the fork is likely to cause disruption to the bitcoin network. This means your funds will be safe but you will be unable to access your bitcoin (BTC) for a short period of time. We will keep you updated on this event through our blog, status pageand Twitter. Thank you, Coinbase Team
Translation - We are taking for ourselves any BCC that you might be eligible for. Considering the price BCC is trading for on ViaBTC I think it's pretty poor form.
Basically, yes, I believe that's what will happen if you have the private keys, e.g.: https://blog.trezor.io/bitcoin-cash-hard-fork-chain-split-safe-guide-abbe3e9c553f I think the downside is that BTC could plummet on the split? Maybe breaking even or even losing overall even though you get BCC?
And Coinspot.com.au just mention security and trading of coins as normal afterwards with some possible interruption. No mention they will support BCC, so presumably they will not.
If you still have btc on a exchange withdraw them to your local wallet and generate your private key. Once you have this keys you can sit back and wait and you will be able to access both btc and bcc. Do not trust any third party.
Official workd from Kraken below - Bitcoin Cash and a Critical Alert for Bitcoin Margin Traders We have posted an important announcement on our blog about the “Bitcoin Cash” (BCH) hard fork that will happen on August 1. Everyone should read the complete post, but here are a few highlights from the post: Kraken plans to support BCH on our platform for funding and trading in the pairs BCH/XBT, BCH/USD, BCH/EUR Clients holding Bitcoin (XBT) balances at the time of the fork will be credited with an equal amount of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - e.g. 1 XBT will result in 1 XBT + 1 BCH Clients borrowing Bitcoin (XBT) for margin positions at the time of the fork will be debited an equal amount of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - e.g. if you borrow 1 XBT you must pay back 1 XBT + 1 BCH Margin traders should read the blog post carefully to understand the added risk and how margin trading will work across the fork The BCH fork is planned for 12:20 pm UTC on August 1 Bitcoin (XBT) funding will be halted at 11 am UTC and resumed sometime after the fork when it is safe to do so Trading will continue across the fork, but we may need to halt trading briefly around the time of the fork so we can adjust balances and add pairs
