Bitcoin Cash completes halving weeks before Bitcoin’s turn

Bitcoin Cash underwent its halving just a few weeks before Bitcoin’s quadrennial event.

The halving for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) happened Thursday, reducing block rewards to 3.125 BCH. Unlike bitcoin, this is only the second such event for the forked network. The last halving took place in early April 2020, with block rewards falling to 6.25 BCH.

BCH spiked to prices not seen since 2021 following its halving event, hitting a high of around $700 in early Friday hours before it settled around $660. The jump marks a 10% increase over the past seven days. 

The price action is nowhere near its all-time highs in 2017 when it traded over $9,500, according to Coinbase data. 

Read more: Roger Ver was right about Bitcoin

BCH, a proof-of-work blockchain, was intended to be a cheaper and faster alternative to the original bitcoin chain, from which it forked in 2017.

Bitcoin Cash’s market cap sits around $13 billion, far below the $1.3 trillion market cap set by bitcoin. The price, however, has gradually increased as the forked blockchain shadowed bitcoin’s gains.

Read more: ETFs helped ‘legitimize’ bitcoin ahead of halving: Q&A

Since the approval of the spot bitcoin ETFs in January, bitcoin has steadily climbed and carved out new all-time highs. Bitcoin (BTC) is currently trading at around $67,000. 

Bitcoin’s halving will happen on or around April 20 at block 840,000. The event takes place every 210,000 blocks. 

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