Bitcoin cash, the splinter cryptocurrency that forked from the Bitcoin blockchain in 2017, underwent its first programmable halving.
Like other proof-of-work blockchains, bitcoin cash (BCH) manages its monetary supply by slowly printing mining rewards to machines that secure its network by solving complicated mathematical problems. As of Wednesday morning, miners will receive half the amount of BCH for essentially the same amount of work. In the past, these “halving events” proceeded cryptocurrency price rallies, but industry experts have their doubts a bull run is in store for Bitcoin Cash.
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Liquidity
Bid-ask spreads on major exchanges widened dramatically in March, following coronavirus-led market turmoil. The bid-ask spread is an indicator of market liquidity, measuring the gap between the highest price a buyer would pay and the lowest price a seller would accept.
Halving hope
Halvings are not always bullish, and many experts think bitcoin cash has a rough road ahead to retain price and mining capacity. “The conventional crypto wisdom that halvings magically induce a bull run such that the real USD value of miner revenue does not cut in half is naive wishful thinking, encouraging investors to be fooled by correlation/causation,” said Zach Resnick, managing partner at Unbound Capital.
Halving report
In May of 2020, bitcoin is expected to undergo its third “halving,” a programmed supply reduction that has in the past coincided with a strong run-up in the bitcoin price. In this paper, we explain what the bitcoin halving is, why it matters and why the market is so focused on this event.
Market rally
Epsilon Theory’s Ben Hunt and NLW discuss why markets are rallying as we enter what promises to be the deadliest week of the virus in the US yet. The question is: Is the rally in both stocks and crypto premature?
Blockchain Bites is CoinDesk’s daily news roundup of the most important stories in blockchain tech from here and around the web. You can subscribe here.
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