The Bitcoin Cash hard fork seems to have injected huge uncertainty into the cryptocurrency market, sparking a savage blood-letting as the value of every major coin against the US dollar plummeted.
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Bitcoin Cash split into two separate coins on November 15, leaving the original Bitcoin Cash and the new Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin Cash Satoshi’s Vision.
Shortly after the divergence, the market crashed, wiping billions of dollars off the market capitalisation.
Bitcoin – the original cryptocurrency – plunged from $6,341 on opening on November 14 to $5,070 on November 19 – the lowest rate in more than a year and a steady downward slide that shows no sign of abating.
As the fork approached, Bitcoin Cash was trading at $419.82, dropping to $271.37 before rebounding to $383.46 within hours, but trending on a downward path to $287.68 on November 19.
Fork policy is wanting
Bitcoin Cash ABC immediately jumped to $287.63 after the fork and has plateaued between that figure and $237.10 since.
Bitcoin SV jumped to $152,65 after the fork and has had a bit more of a rollercoaster to settle at $83.30 four days later.
Analysts suggest this is the first time a fork has ended with the coin losing money on the pre-split price.
Traders and investors have issues with some exchanges over their hard fork policy – some are trading, some are not and others have suspended deposits and withdrawals.
Other cryptocurrencies have been caught in the tumbles as Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin Cash SV hash backers fight for supremacy.
Sucked into shambles
And other cryptocurrencies outside of the Bitcoin universe have been sucked into the shambles.
Ethereum has hit a new low of $155 – against a peak of $1,420 in January.
Ripple has now become the solid second cryptocurrency behind Bitcoin with a market cap of $49.72 billion compared with fallen giant Ethereum’s $15.96 billion.
Ripple XRP slipped as low as $0.4281 at the Bitcoin Cash fork, but has recovered to $0.48.
Most coins have seen their values drop between 15% and 20% across a weekend of frantic trading, with only a few fringe cryptocurrencies heading back into the black.
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