Since the Fork: The Price of Bitcoin vs. Bitcoin Cash

Since the Bitcoin Cash hard fork, both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash have been performing relatively well and both chains have managed to survive and even thrive. However, Bitcoin has taken the spotlight recently with its incredible bull run since the fork even with the most recent price corrections. Let’s take a look at what the metrics look like and what they may mean for both assets.

Bitcoin vs. Bitcoin Cash

What is really cool about the Bitcoin Cash fork is that we essentially have an A/B test live on the market to give us data on which of two scaling solution — SegWit or a blocksize increase — is more practical. So far, it seems like Bitcoin is outperforming the altcoin that shares the majority of its blockchain. The chart below shows the respective prices of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash since the fork. The data was gathered from coinmarketcap.

Since the hard fork, we see a much more pronounced upward trend for Bitcoin over Bitcoin Cash. Between the fork on August 1st and the time of writing, Bitcoin has gone up in value by 38.8%. Bitcoin Cash, on the other hand, has gone down in value by about 9.4%. This is one of the reasons that it is still more profitable for miners to mine Bitcoin over Bitcoin Cash.

One of the things that Bitcoin seems it will continue to enjoy over Bitcoin Cash is its hashrate. Because of the higher profitability in mining Bitcoin over Bitcoin Cash, it just makes more sense for miners to continue to point all of their hashing power at the Bitcoin network instead of at Bitcoin Cash. Making the switch would require a dedicated individual who supports Bitcoin Cash from an ideological standpoint over a financial one. While the idea of supporting a cause — even to the detriment of one’s wallet — is noble, it is also understandable that other miners might hesitate to redirect their hashing power. Ideals are great, but profit is king. 

However, the fact that Bitcoin Cash has gone down in value since the fork does not suggest that the end is near for the altcoin. The fact that it has been gaining more miner support — combined with more exchanges adding BCH as a tradeable currency — means that the coin is doing fairly well for itself, all things considered. Its lower price also may be an incentive for new investment compared to Bitcoin.

Since Bitcoin is currently worth significantly more as well, its volatile swings and larger price corrections may leave investors a bit more sour than if the same happened with Bitcoin Cash. Whether you own Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash, or both, their current prices still can make you smile — Bitcoin’s because it is smashing through all time highs all the time, and Bitcoin Cash’s because it is surviving when many thought it would have died by now.

This is not investment or trading advice; always conduct your own independent research. 

UPDATE: Since the time that this article was written, the price of BCH has increased to approximately US$576, putting its growth since the fork at about 34%. Bitcoin has declined somewhat to about US$4,277, knocking its growth since the fork down to 36.4%.