Bitcoin Cash Faces Decline: Open Interest Drops 47% Post-Halving Amid Price Tumble

[TL; DR]

The price of Bitcoin Cash fell a day after its second halving event.

Currently, Bitcoin cash, with a market capitalization of $9,906,626,527, is ranked number 14.

A Bitcoin cash maximalist Roger Ver thinks that BCH reflects Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision of being a truly decentralized currency.

Introduction

The bitcoin halving 2024 has been the most anticipated crypto event. It overshadowed the bitcoin cash halving which occurred on 4 April. More significantly, the two halving events reduced the mining rewards to 3.125 coins. For bitcoin Cash this year’s halving was the second as the first one occurred on 8 April 2020.

In the past every bitcoin halving was followed by a strong rally. Nonetheless, the same cannot be said of bitcoin cash. So far, the two halving events have not shown many similarities. This analysis covers the market behaviour of bitcoin cash after its first two halving events. Much focus, though, will be on its recent halving.

Bitcoin Cash’s Price and Open Interest Decline Post-Halving

Bitcoin cash ran out of steam a day after the blockchain’s halving event. By mid-April its price had decreased by over 15% from its high of $691.81 recorded on 5 April. The market never anticipated that bitcoin cash would experience a strong price slide after its halving. As the following graph shows its price dropped significantly before rebounding for another 4 days.

BCH Price Movement Post Halving Period: CoinGecko

As the image indicates after the halving the BCH price dipped to $638.27 on 5 April before retracing to $709.49 on 8 April. From there it plummeted further to a low of $614.48 on 10 April. Sadly, it continued to fall until it reached $481.55 on 14 April before entering a range market where it has been fluctuating between $450.48 and $552.02 since then.

Open Interest and Price Performance

Several BCH metrics have indicated that it may take long for the coin to stabilize or to rise again. One such metric is the open interest (OI) in BCH derivatives. Before the halving event the OI had been rising until it hit $887 million on 5 April. Nonetheless, that figure retreated for several days.

Coinglass data indicates that the BCH OI reached $378.3 million on 12 April after dropping by 47% from its pre-halving period peak of $708.5 million. That sharp decline in the BCH open interest coincided with a 13% fall in its price. Its greatest price fall occurred within a 24-hour period that stretched from 9 to 10 April where it dropped from $688.79 to $613.51.

Market Dynamics Post-Halving

As a fact, the Bitcoin Cash price fell by 9% a day before the halving event. However, it did not maintain the resultant price for long as it rebounded by 5%. After the halving event the BCH price fell by a high margin within the first 7 days. The next graph illustrates the BCH price movement after the halving event.

BCH Price Movement 10 Days after Halving - CoinMarketCap

The above image shows BCH price movement for a period of 15 days after the halving. The part of the chart between the two orange lines summarizes the coin’s price moment. According to CoinMarketCap, the BCH price dropped from $702.82 on 4 April to $472.40 on the 14th of the same month.

Comparison with the Market Reaction to the First-Ever Halving In 2020

The cryptocurrency market reaction after this year’s halving event is different from that of 2020. As discussed above, the bitcoin cash price dropped after the halving event. More than two weeks after that event its price is lower than the pre-halving one.

On the contrary, after the 2020 bitcoin cash halving event its price rose by 4.7% while its open interest increased by 10% to reach $73.86 million within one week. Thus, generally the crypto halving impact this year was different from that of 2020 when the coin was only 3 years old.

Roger Ver’s advocacy for Bitcoin Cash

A few days after the BCH halving the Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin communities clashed. This all began on 18 March after Adam Back, Blockstream CEO, through an X post asked Roger Ver, one of the earliest Bitcoin adopters, to rejoin the bitcoin community.

Source: x.com

Nevertheless, Roger Ver, affectionately known as “Bitcoin Jesus” and a Bitcoin Cash maximalist declined to go back to the bitcoin community. He expressed his strong alignment to bitcoin cash which he believes syncs with Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision. He thinks that bitcoin cash works well as both a means of payment and a store of value as a result of its low transaction costs and less energy requirements than BTC.

Bitcoin Cash’s Position in the Crypto Market

Currently bitcoin cash, with a market capitalization of $9,906,626,527, is ranked number 14, making it one of the leading cryptocurrencies. Also, its market dynamics shows that it has much potential which attracts many people to invest in it. For example, CoinCodex predicts that the BCH price will reach $ 943.51 by end of 2025 making it a possible worthwhile cryptocurrency investment asset. Here is the prediction from Gate.io analysts.

In addition, bitcoin cash has a high correlation with the top 10 cryptocurrencies except stablecoins. According CoinCodex, it also correlates with several other crypto assets that include “Internet Computer (ICP), Hedera Hashgraph (HBAR), Ethereum (ETH), Coinbase Wrapped Staked ETH (CBETH) and Solana (SOL)”. However, it negatively correlates with “Zeebu (ZBU), Ondo Finance (ONDO), UNUS SED LEO (LEO), OKB (OKB) and Celestia (TIA).”

The Future of Bitcoin Cash in the Broader Crypto Market

Bitcoin cash has a big role to play in the digital economy as it functions as a means of payment. More importantly, it integrates the essential features and attributes the blockchain technology enables.

In addition, it has several advantages over bitcoin such as scalability and low transaction, making it a preferred transactional cryptocurrency for many crypto users. Currently, many people use it to buy products, book trips and invest in real estate. As many people adopt the cryptocurrency we expect third-party processors and merchants to integrate it into their payment systems.

Conclusion

The price of BCH and the open interest (OI) in BCH derivatives fell after its second halving. Therefore, its market dynamics after its first and second halving events were different. In the meantime, a BCH maximalist, Roger Ver has said that BCH reflects Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision of being an affordable peer-to-peer means of payment.

FAQs about Bitcoin Cash

Is there any future for bitcoin cash?

Bitcoin cash promises much to the crypto sector since it is suitable to be a means of payment as envisioned by Satoshi Nakamoto. It is a truly decentralized cryptocurrency, with low transaction fees and energy requirements. The fact that it is ranked among the top 20 cryptocurrencies shows that it is in demand and has much liquidity.

Is bitcoin cash good to buy?

In comparison with other cryptocurrencies bitcoin cash is a good buy since many merchants use it as a means of payment. Many people prefer bitcoin cash to other cryptocurrencies because the transactions are fast and cost effective.

Will bitcoin cash reach $3,000?

There is no doubt that bitcoin cash will reach $3,000. However, what we are not sure about is when it will reach that price target. Already, the cryptocurrency surpassed $3,000 in 2017 when it reached $3,785.82 on 20 December 2017. However, some analysts think that BCH will trade at around $3,000 way after 2030.

Does bitcoin cash still exist?

Bitcoin cash, ranked number 14, still exists and is performing comparatively well. It is currently trading at $510.54 after gaining 20.2% within the last 30 days.

Author: Mashell C., Gate.io Researcher

*This article represents only the views of the researcher and does not constitute any investment suggestions.

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