How to check if EOS tokens have a public key?

in #cryptocurrency7 years ago (edited)

Hi all, newbie question!

I hope you can help me. I have participated in the EOS ICO, but I'm yet to claim my tokes and register my public key. I also decided to purchase some more EOS on Kraken last night. My question is not about how I go through the process - I get that but it's more around what happens when I merge the two?

Let me explain why: I read somewhere that if people don't register their public key then the tokens are worthless in June 2018 when they go over to the EOS blockchain. So I guess my question is: do exchanges like Kraken check whether there is a public key in place before you can trade them on their exchange? If not, is there any way to find out which tokes have / don't have a public key registered? I'd hate to find out that the lot I bought yesterday is worthless after June 2018...

Thanks for your help in advance!
Jeroen (aka The Transparent Trader)

Sort:  

Also finding this thingy

Do you recall where you read this? Why one should have to register a public key to hold tokens is unclear to me. A public key is necessary to trading/transacting, but otherwise would seem unnecessary.

Just curious.

Hi @valued-customer I looked up where I read this, it's actually on the EOS distribution website: https://eos.io/instructions. Point number 4:

Failing to register a public key for your Ethereum account

If you hold EOS Tokens in an Ethereum account and fail to register a public key or lose the private key that maps to your registered public key, then your EOS Tokens will not be part of the snapshot when the EOS Tokens become fixed and non-transferable on the Ethereum blockchain. If and when someone launches a blockchain adopting the EOS.IO Software there may be less than 1 billion EOS Tokens outstanding after taking into account those who fail to register a public key.

Ah. Well, clearly then you must register a public key in order for your tokens to be known, even if you don't intend to trade them. Odd, that, seeing as the tokens are intended to be part of a blockchain.

I see that the reason they must be registered is that there is no blockchain on which EOS tokens are accounted presently. As a result I would be very cautious about not registering a public key, as your tokens would not exist in the view of a blockchain that later accepts tokens already issued - unless they were linked to a public key.

At least that's how I see it. Kraken would be the authority on how they determine your EOS holdings. It would seem trivial for Kraken to have knowledge of your holdings, as you acquired them there, IIRC from your prior post.

Edit: really bad grammar. It's hard to explain, as my father was an English teacher, and he learnt me real good.

Thanks for your reply and that last bit made me chuckle haha. Maybe my post wasn't clear enough, I wasn't contemplating whether I should register the tokens I got in the ICO or not, in fact I already have since I posted. I'm more concerned about the EOS I bought on the kraken exchange in addition to the ICO tokens.

I was wondering if these tokens can't be traded on an exchange without having a public key or if there is a way to find out whether those tokens do have a public key registered, so I can ensure that they won't be worthless come June 2018.

Am I making any sense?

Yes, you are making sense. The public key is your key. I don't believe the key is passed on with the tokens.