Bitcoin Cash surges 13%, becomes top gainer in crypto market today

Bitcoin Cash became the top gainer among the top 100 cryptocurrencies on July 29, experiencing a notable increase of over 13% in the last 24 hours.

At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was up 13.6% in the last 24 hours and changing hands at $451. The crypto asset’s daily trading volume was hovering around $427 million, according to data from crypto.news.

BCH 24-hour price chart | Source: crypto.news

Moreover, the cryptocurrency had a market cap of $8.75 billion, making it the 16th largest crypto asset, according to CoinGecko. Despite the recent price surge, the token is still 88.3% below its all-time high of $3785.8, which was reached on December 20, 20217.

Originating from Bitcoin’s 2017 hard fork, Bitcoin Cash was created following disagreements within the Bitcoin community over proposed upgrades. Like its predecessor, Bitcoin Cash operates on a Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism, has a limited supply of 21 million coins, and undergoes a halving event every four years. The reward for mining Bitcoin Cash is currently set at 6.25 BCH.

A key difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash is the block size; Bitcoin Cash supports blocks of up to 32 MB, which is significantly larger than Bitcoin’s 1 MB limit. This larger block size allows Bitcoin Cash to process a greater number of transactions in the same time frame.

The recent price increase reflects the growing interest of investors, especially retail investors, in more affordable alternatives to Bitcoin, which currently has a unit price of around $70,000.

While Bitcoin remains one of the most expensive crypto assets, making it difficult for some investors to fully own, Bitcoin Cash and similar hard forks offer more accessible investment opportunities due to their lower price points.

The recent surge in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is partly attributed to Kraken’s successful distribution of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash to customers affected by the 2014 Mt. Gox hack. This distribution occurred on July 27, 2024, and was a significant step in resolving the long-running Mt. Gox lawsuit.

Additionally, significant whale activity and significant BCH purchases were reported, as noted in a July 29 post by whale watching site “FishTheWhales.”

A trading analyst known as Dz_4L highlighted that Bitcoin Cash has broken out of an inverse head and shoulders pattern at X, suggesting an uptrend. He predicts that BCH could see another 15-20% price increase based on this momentum.

Meanwhile, interest in Bitcoin has surged following former President Donald Trump’s announcement of major initiatives involving digital assets, including a proposal for a national Bitcoin reserve in the US.

Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at $69,716 and is up 3.23% over the last 24 hours, having seen a low of $67,314 and a high of $69,804 in the same time frame.

Other leading altcoins such as Ethereum (ETH), Dogecoin (DOGE), Ripple (XRP), Solana (SOL), and Litecoin (LTC) also recorded modest gains. The overall crypto market sentiment is positive, with the Market Fear & Greed Index showing a score of 63 (Greed) out of 100.

The global cryptocurrency market capitalization currently stands at $2.48 trillion, reflecting a growth of 3.34% over the last 24 hours.