New Cryptocurrency ‘Bitcoin Cash’ Takes off Following Split

A new version of Bitcoin is being mined with prices nearly 200 percent.

August 2, 2017 10:07 am

Bitcoin owners might be seeing double.

A new cryptocurrency was created on Tuesday when Bitcoin was split into two. “Bitcoin Cash” was formed after months of debate within the digital currency community.

The split was designed increased the capacity of the technology supporting Bitcoin, known as blockchain. The original blockchain could only add one megabyte of data every ten minutes, creating a historic backlog in Bitcoin transactions.

Bitcoin Cash can form blocks as large as eight megabytes, allowing for much faster transactions, according to BBC.

The price of the new Bitcoin is rising rapidly after a brief stint of volatility on Tuesday. By Wednesday morning, Bitcoin Cash rose 200 percent up to $628, according to CNBC. Despite the gains, the new version is still trading at a fifth of its original price.

Many cryptocurrency exchanges are still not supporting Bitcoin Cash, waiting it out until it’s clear the market for it is stable. According to the Wall Street Journal, Bitcoin Cash could end up having a total market value in the billions of dollars, which would be one of the most valuable.

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