Past weekend had all the dramatic fluctuations Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash prices to make even veterans of cryptocurrency flinch in agony.
First, its price plummeted from a record high of $7,800 last week due to massive a sell-off, as traders moved funds to rival Bitcoin Cash (the currently touted solution on scaling issue), the currency that was formed after a fork in bitcoin’s blockchain in August. Then, the inflow helped Bitcoin Cash prices skyrocket to $2,500, a jump of 300 percent from price levels of $800 less than two days earlier.
Come Monday morning. However, bitcoin’s price had recovered, and Bitcoin Cash was on a downward slide. As of 16:00 UTC, bitcoin was trading at $6,662.66, up 13.82% in the last 24 hours. In the meanwhile, Bitcoin Cash was trading at $1,225.62, down 18.62% from its price levels 24 hours ago.
As has frequently been the case with bitcoin’s price in recent months, the jury is still out on the reasons for Bitcoin Cash’s surge. However, most accounts seem to point to the bitcoin developer community's decision to call off a fork in bitcoin’s blockchain that was set to increase the original coin’s block size by 1 MB to 2 MB. The controversial fork would have expanded block size and would have speeded up transaction numbers and velocity through the bitcoin network.
As of this writing, Bitcoin is back on its upward trajectory, as previously and Bitcoin Cash steadily declining.
What are your thoughts on the swings?
Let us know in the comment section.