The Bitcoin Cash network, a result of a hard fork from Bitcoin, has split into two new blockchains, again. At press time, Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCH ABC) has received no hashpower, meaning that it is possible Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) will become the dominant software of the Bitcoin Cash network, according to data from Coin.Dance.
The last “common block” among bitcoin cash miners was #661647, mined by Binance. The first block that split the Bitcoin Cash blockchain was mined by AntPool. Since then, hashpower has been in BCHN’s favor, as miners have mined multiple consecutive blocks on the network.
To recap, a group of Bitcoin Cash developers led by Amaury Sechet, known as BCH ABC, proposed an update on the Bitcoin Cash network, which has included a controversial new “Coinbase Rule,” which requires 8% of mined bitcoin cash to be redistributed to BCH ABC as a means of financing protocol development.
The upgrade is opposed by another group from the Bitcoin Cash community, known as Bitcoin Cash Node, who removed this so-called “miner tax” from their source code. When some nodes on a network adopt a hard fork and others don’t, then the blockchain will split into two different versions: one with the old software and one with the new software.
Prior to the hard fork, prices of bitcoin cash plummeted to as low as $237.54, down by 7.5% from an earlier high at $256.82, according to data from CoinDesk 20.
If BCH ABC does not attract enough hashpower to produce a viable blockchain, the ABC blockchain would in theory “disappear.”