The time for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) seems to have come and gone as quickly as Anthony Scaramucci’s stint as White House Communications Director. Launched on August 1, Bitcoin Cash’s value shot up as much as $7.6 billion in market cap before wiping out more than half its value in the proceeding days.
Why the fall?
On August 8, the Bitcoin network, a consortium of miners voted to accept an upgrade called “SegWit.” SegWit (short for Segregated Witness) is a software that would scale up Bitcoin (BTC) capacity to make transactions more efficient. It was also the point of contention that caused the splinter in the first place. Those who opposed the solution were in support of a different method to achieve the same goal by increasing block size.
Other upgrades haven't had the same effect
Since the inception of the digital currency nearly nine years ago, Bitcoin has fixed a lot of bugs and upgraded itself several times. “But most performance improvements are non-controversial because they don’t fundamentally change the behavior of the Bitcoin network,” says Bobby Lee, CEO of BTCC, China’s first and largest Bitcoin trading platform.
SegWit probably wouldn’t have gained critical mass if naysayers didn’t cut the cord. But Lee, who is also a board member of the Bitcoin Foundation, is among those who believe that spinning off Bitcoin Cash, now also known as “Bcash,” is better for both schools of thought. Each going it alone means progressing without contention.
“We think the price of Bitcoin for the last one-and-a-half-year has been artificially held low because of the impasse,” says Lee.
Bitcoin could soar even higher
Indeed the price of Bitcoin has hit a new high, flirting near $3,500 a token and reaching a market cap of $55 billion for the first time ever. That’s nearly the size of Luxembourg’s GDP.
The SegWit rollout -- which will take two weeks to be fully implemented -- is seen as a milestone for Bitcoin. With the activation, some traders are speculating that it’s just a matter of time before the internet currency touches $5,000 a coin.
And because Bitcoin Cash came from the same ledger as the original currency, Bitcoin owners were issued Bcash upon the split. But many have sold off their new digital cash to chase after Bitcoin and its newfound potential.
Criminals want a piece of the action
Amidst all the cryptocurrency excitement, criminals are eyeing a big payday as well. The anonymity of the currency has become a tool for blackmail.
The latest case involves hackers demanding millions from HBO in exchange for breached content from the hit show "Game of Thrones." The TV network was threatened with leaked information including a draft script of an upcoming episode, emails from an HBO executive, and personal contact details for cast members Emilia Clarke, Lena Headey and Peter Dinklage.
The network was given three days to pay the ransom in Bitcoin.
A long way to go
“Bitcoin represents a technology where the value comes from the fact that the whole world recognizes that there’s a finite amount,” says Lee. “It’s a scarce digital asset.” Only 21 million tokens will ever exist. Right now 16 million are in circulation. Twenty million will be mined in the next 10 years. Based on the open source mathematical formula, “it will take 100 years to mine the last one million Bitcoin,” explains Lee who is very optimistic about the future of the cryptocurrency.
https://www.forbes.com/sites/pamelaambler/2017/08/09/the-rapid-rise-and-fall-of-bitcoin-cash/#18e9fd323e02
Topic: [2017-08-09] The Rapid Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin Cash (Read 2231 times)
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