Bitcoin Cash (BCH) surged over 10% following the successful completion of its second halving event on April 4th, 2024.
This price increase comes on the heels of a strong upward trend for BCH, which has seen a 23% rise in the past week and an impressive 43% upswing in the last month.
As of press time, BCH reached its highest price point since May 2021, trading at $673.
Market analysts attribute this price surge to a confluence of factors, including the recent halving event and the overall bullish sentiment in the cryptocurrency market.
Understanding the Bitcoin Cash Halving
Bitcoin Cash is a derivative of the Bitcoin blockchain created in 2017. Designed to facilitate faster and cheaper transactions, BCH has experienced mixed reception within the crypto community.
The recent halving event, which occurred at block height 840,000, cut miner rewards in half, from 6.25 BCH to 3.125 coins per block. This follows the network’s first halving event in April 2020.
While the halving went smoothly, some initial network hiccups were reported. Ludovic Lars, a Bitcoin Cash enthusiast, noted a significant slowdown, with blocks taking nearly four hours to be mined.
However, data from Post-halving, Bitcoin Unlimited shows the network has since validated over 17 blocks.
Furthermore, OKLink data reveals a surge in BCH’s network mining difficulty to its highest level since 2019, reaching 761,589.2. This coincides with a decrease in miner rewards, dropping from an average of 0.0003 at the beginning of the year to 0.00017 as of press time.
A Precursor for Bitcoin’s Halving?
Market experts see BCH’s halving as a potential indicator for the upcoming Bitcoin halving scheduled for April 20th, 2024.
Similar to BCH, Bitcoin’s miner block rewards will be slashed in half, dropping from 6.25 BTC to 3.125 BTC. Industry leaders, including Grayscale and Hut 8 Mining CEO Asher Genoot, anticipate this event to significantly impact the broader cryptocurrency market.