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Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Rallies 12 Percent Ahead of Today's Halving. Will Bitcoin (BTC) Follow Suit?

source-logo  u.today 08 April 2020 04:11, UTC
Contents
  • Bitcoin Cash braces for its first halving
  • More pressure on small miners 
  • The main event is nigh 
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The price of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), the Roger Ver-backed Bitcoin (BTC) fork, skyrocketed by more than 12 percent on Apr. 8 to its intraday high of $280. 

image by tradingview.com

Its miner reward halving will take place in only eight hours at the time of writing. 

Bitcoin Cash braces for its first halving

After the BCH halving, miners will only get 6.25 BCH per one confirmed block (instead of 12.5 BCH).   

Back in November, Kraken's director of business development Dan Hedl predicted that this event would be 'catastrophic' for the controversial fork. The 50 percent drop of block subsidies is expected to take an enormous toll on the security of the BCH network. This could ultimately result in a much-feared 51 percent attack that would allow bad actors to roll back transactions and double-spend coins.  

The nub of the problem is that BCH miners will be incentivized to switch to the BTC network. The two coins share the same mining algorithm, but the Bitcoin halving is going to happen more than a month later. 

More pressure on small miners 

It is worth noting that the halving of Bitcoin SV (BSV), another top 10 Bitcoin fork, is also expected to happen in only two days. 

As reported by U.Today, both BSV and BCH miners flocking to the BTC network will inevitably inflict more pressure on smaller miners that will struggle to turn a profit with the rising hashrate. 

The main event is nigh 

The two halvings merely offer a foretaste of what is about to happen in 35 days. Bitcoin is going to have its third reward-cut to date, with many pundits expecting another major price rally. 

Back in 2016, Bitcoin surged eight percent in the run-up to its second halving, which took place on July 9. However, this rally turned out to be short-lived -- the cryptocurrency plunged by 15 percent in early August before starting a major bull run in 2017.  

u.today