As was to be expected, the Bitcoin Cash price pump has completely run out of steam by the look of things. With the inflated altcoin’s price dropping from US$2,800 to US$1,162 over the past 36 hours, it is evident all good things come to an end. Many people made a lot of good money, yet Bitcoin still reigns supreme. It will be interesting to see what happens to the Bitcoin Cash price in the next few hours. So far, falling below US$1,000 seems the most likely outcome.

Bitcoin Cash Takes a Back Seat

Everyone knew the inflated Bitcoin Cash price would not be sustained for an extended period of time. Although things looked good most of last week and the early part of the weekend, everything is slowly returning back to normal. The peak of US$2,800 a few days ago was pretty spectacular, but it is evident people have had their fun for now. Traders are once again pulling money out of BCH and putting it into other currencies, at least for the time being.

Over the past 24 hours, we have seen very erratic Bitcoin Cash price movements. With the altcoin’s value falling from US$1,820 to US$1,077, there was a lot of good money to be made by selling high and buying the dip. A total of five attempts have been made to surpass US$1,900 since, but none have succeeded. None of this is entirely unexpected either, as Bitcoin Cash still has yet to prove its value to the rest of the world.

It is unclear what will happen next with the Bitcoin Cash price, though. A lot of people accurately predicted that momentum would turn against BCH sooner or later. The pump has run for a much longer period than most people expected, and it seems now is the time for consolidation and the correction it deserves. No one knows where the bottom is for BCH, but rest assured there are plenty of people who already bailed. With the network having lost significant hashpower, BCH transaction confirmations have been delayed by several hours.

It is also obvious that the Bitcoin Cash trading volume is drying up rather quickly. Although the past 24 hours saw well over US$5.4 billion in volume, that pales in comparison to the US$8 billion-plus we have seen over the past few days. The party’s over for a lot of traders, and people can’t get money from their wallets to exchanges quickly enough until the network stabilizes again. When that will happen exactly remains anybody’s guess for now.

As has been the case virtually all week, Bithumb is still the busiest exchange when it comes to Bitcoin Cash trading. With over US$1.4 billion in 24-hour volume, it is responsible for around one in four trades. Bittrex and Bitfinex round out the top three exchanges, although they both value BCH a lot lower than Bithumb does. 

For anyone who expected Bitcoin Cash to overtake Bitcoin this weekend, reality is setting in pretty quickly. It is obvious this altcoin doesn’t compare to Bitcoin in terms of traction, adoption, or investor appeal. It is a great speculative asset, but not a store of value by any means. There is no natural growth either, as this currency saw its value increase eightfold over the course of five days thanks to a few wealthy speculators. Bitcoin Cash certainly has value, but this recent trend shows it is certainly not in the US$2,000-plus range.