Feathercoin, the Scrypt enabled altcurrency based in Oxford UK, has issued an updated wallet on the Google Play Store. Over the past few weeks, the original client had become unable to synchronise with the Feathercoin network, denying users access to their funds.
The problem had been discussed on the Feathercoin forum and on the Github project page. As a result an alternative wallet, made by community member “Wellenreiter”, has been released on the Google Play Store, under the name of “Feathercoin Wallet 2”, which has resolved the issue. According to the Feathercoin forum, a response is being awaited by the author of the original wallet, so that the fix may be rolled into the original client too, but as of yet, users need to switch to the new wallet.
However, users switching to this application need to be careful. The private keys from the original wallet need to be backed up first, because the new client will not automatically import them. This option is available via the “Backup keys” option from the application’s menu.
If you do not understand what private keys mean, these are secret codes that enable funds to be sent from a cryptocurrency wallet. They must be kept secret as anyone with the private key can send transactions from the corresponding wallet address.
Once a user has saved their private keys, the old Feathercoin wallet should be uninstalled, so that you do not confuse it with the original wallet. Once uninstalled, search the Play Store for “Feathercoin Wallet 2” and install. Once installed, use the same “Backup keys” option to find the import keys option.
Also see this illustrated guide on the Feathercoin forum to transfer your keys from the old wallet application to the new application.
Peter Bushnell, the founder of Feathercoin, exclusively told Coinbuzz:
“Our Android wallet stopped working weeks ago and we have now taken development of it in house. We updated the protocol version which is all that was required to get it working on the network again. You can now get the new Feathercoin from the play store as Feathercoin Wallet 2. This will be renamed when the original author removes their version.”
