Bitcoin Cash has surged more than 50% in the last 24 hours, surpassing $3,000 and reaching its latest, all-time high.
The digital currency, which is similar to the original Bitcoin but with greater capacity to process transactions, had risen to as much as $3,335.35 at the time of report, according to CoinMarketCap.
This figure represented a 52% increase over the last 24 hours, additional CoinMarketCap figures show.
Interestingly enough, Bitcoin Cash enjoyed this sharp rally as traditional Bitcoin fell more than 5%, according to the CoinDesk Bitcoin Price Index.
[Ed note: Investing in cryptocoins or tokens is highly speculative and the market is largely unregulated. Anyone considering it should be prepared to lose their entire investment.]
As for what caused Bitcoin Cash to surge like this, analysts pointed to a handful of different variables.
Bitcoin Network Challenges
More than one market observer pointed to the challenges plaguing the Bitcoin network, emphasizing its slow transaction times and high fees.
Neelabh Dixit, co-founder of digital asset management firm Cryptomover, stated that these difficulties are making investors "anxious" about "bitcoin's future."
As a result, market participants have been flocking to Bitcoin Cash, which has larger blocks than traditional Bitcoin and can therefore process far more transactions at any given time, he said.
Chris Keshian, co-founder of the Apex Token Fund, a tokenized crypto fund-of-funds, offered a similar point of view.
"Bitcoin's slow transaction times and high fees make it untenable as a daily currency," he stated.
"BCC does not have these same issues, and has been touted recently in the news under the banner of quick, cheap peer to peer payments."
Active Management Strategies
Traders have also been piling into Bitcoin Cash as part of their active management strategies, seeking to either hedge their exposure to downside risk or produce superior returns.
"Many investors see Bitcoin Cash as a hedge against Bitcoin in their portfolios," noted Keshian. "So as their Bitcoin holdings increase, they move into BCC positions to appropriately hedge their risk."
Tim Enneking, managing director of Crypto Asset Management, offered a different take on the situation.
Many investors are rotating out of Bitcoin and into other digital currencies, he stated.
Enneking added that "It’s rarely that one sees BTC in [red] on CMC and everything else green!"
Disclosure: I own some Bitcoin and Ether.
After months of rumors, it's official: Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is coming to Coinbase.
A blog post on Tuesday has officially confirmed what many have been speculating for months: Bitcoin Cash—a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain—is headed to popular cryptocurrency brokerage Coinbase, effective as soon as there is "sufficient liquidity" on GDAX.
Users will be able to buy, sell, send, and receive Bitcoin Cash on the platform.
This follows a recent surge in price in BCH. Following the announcement, Bitcoin plunged by 12 percent, dropping below $17K, while BCH jumped several hundred dollars, clearing the $3K mark. The current listed price on CoinMarketCap is $3,387.54.
In the post, Coinbase expressed their belief that customers should not be hurt by forks that occur outside their control, saying:
Coinbase operates by the principle that our customers should benefit to the greatest extent possible from forks or other networks events. This is essential in our mission to make Coinbase the most trusted, safe, and easy-to-use digital currency exchange.
Coinbase's previous update about Bitcoin Cash can be found here. Read this post on Blockgeeks for more information on Bitcoin Cash.
Editor’s Note & Disclosure: The author invests in cryptocurrency markets. Neither the author nor Forbes endorses participation in any token sale or cryptocurrency investment, all of which have significant inherent risk. Seek advice from a financial advisor as well as do your own due diligence before considering investment.
Bitcoin cash scaled new heights today and looks solidly bid against its rival bitcoin (BTC).
As per CoinMarketCap, the world's third-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization toppled its previous record high of $2,477.65 (Nov. 12 high) and rose to a new record of $2,501.29 at 09:44 UTC today. Bitcoin cash (BCH) was last seen trading at $2,350 levels, meaning the 21 percent rally seen in the last 24 hours has pushed the gains since its launch to 316 percent.
Meanwhile, week-on-week, BCH has appreciated 43 percent.
The stellar rally is a part of the broad-based strength witnessed in the alternative currencies since last Tuesday. With bitcoin (large cap) showing signs of fatigue near the $20,000 mark, the rotation to small caps seems to have gathered pace. This is evident from the spike in trading volumes on exchanges offering BCH/BTC pairs.
Also, the investor community may have bought BCH on speculation that integration with payment processor BitPay would open the doors to more widespread adoption (and boost its utility as a payment method). The price chart analysis says the rally in BCH is here to say.
Bitcoin Cash chart
The above chart (prices as per Bitfinex) shows:
BCH has failed to hold above the 261.8 percent Fibonacci extension level of $2,327.11.
The decline from $2,425 (intra-day high) to $2,260 also indicates the first attempt to break above the rising channel hurdle ($2,327.11) has failed.
The 5-day MA and 10-day MA are curled up in favor of the bulls.
The relative strength index (RSI) shows overbought conditions, but is well short of the highs seen in November. Thus, there is enough room for BCH to extend the rally.
View
The area around the upward sloping 10-day MA level of $1,750 is likely to act as a strong support in the short-term.
A close (as per UTC) above $2,327.11 (261.8 percent Fibonacci extension and rising channel hurdle) would open up upside towards $3,000.
That said, the comments on social media show the investor community feels the rally in BCH could fall apart if bitcoin suffers a major setback. While that could be true, the BCH/BTC chart indicates bitcoin cash could still score gains against bitcoin.
BCH/BTC
The above chart shows:
A higher low pattern (BTC 0.068 on Dec. 8 and BTC 0.09 on Dec. 16).
The relative strength index (RSI) is above 50.00 (in the bullish territory), indicates the scope for further gains in BCH/BTC pair.
The 5-day MA and 10-day MA favor the bulls.
View
The pair seems to have bottomed out at BTC 0.068 (Dec. 8 low) and could test the falling channel hurdle of BTC 0.1454.
A close (as per UTC) above BTC 0.1454 would signal bullish falling channel breakout and could yield rally to BTC 0.2225 (Nov. 24 high).
On the downside, only a close below BTC 0.068 (Dec. 8 low) would abort the bullish view.
Racetrack via Shutterstock
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Disclaimer: This article should not be taken as, and is not intended to provide, investment advice. Please conduct your own thorough research before investing in any cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin fell Tuesday after Coinbase, the leading platform for buying and selling bitcoin in the United States, said Tuesday it was rolling out support for bitcoin cash.
"Sends and receives are available immediately. Buys and sells will be available to all customers once there is sufficient liquidity on GDAX. We anticipate that this will take a few hours," Coinbase said in a blog post Tuesday.
However, Coinbase said in a subsequent, 11:15 p.m. ET tweet that buying and selling would likely not be available until Wednesday. Bitcoin cash trading was also suspended on GDAX until noon ET Wednesday. Coinbase has struggled several times this year to keep up with high demand.
Bitcoin cash split off from the original bitcoin on Aug. 1 after a group of developers decided to try to improve bitcoin transaction speeds and costs. Roger Ver, an outspoken and early bitcoin investor, is a major supporter of bitcoin cash.
The majority of developers who supported the original bitcoin failed to reach an agreement this fall on their own upgrade proposal, SegWit2x.
The offshoot currency soared more than 70 percent Tuesday evening ET to a record high of $3,813.70 and was trading near $3,339 as of 11:37 p.m., ET, according to CoinMarketCap.
The original bitcoin was down about 10 percent to near $17,074, according to Coinbase, after earlier dropping as low as $15,005.
Investors in bitcoin at the time of the split should have received an equivalent amount of bitcoin cash, but Coinbase did not immediately do so, and said it would provide support by January. On Tuesday, Coinbase said all customers at the time of the split would have bitcoin cash.
The announcement follows news in the last few days that a large bitcoin payments processor BitPay and major cryptocurrency storage company Blockchain would support bitcoin cash.
Clarification: This story has been updated to reflect that Coinbase would soon allow customers to buy and sell bitcoin cash. The service was not available immediately.
