Bitcoin Dips While Its Spinoffs BCH and BSV Soar

While the price of Bitcoin dipped this week, two of its lesser-known relatives suddenly took off. Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV — both created by splitting away from the original Bitcoin — posted some of their biggest gains in months.

First, a quick explainer. A "fork" happens when a group of people copy an existing cryptocurrency's software and change some rules to create a brand-new coin. Both Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV were born this way:

• Bitcoin Cash (BCH) split from Bitcoin in August 2017, aiming for cheaper and faster payments.
• Bitcoin SV (BSV) split from Bitcoin Cash a year later during a dispute called the "Hash War."

So what caused the sudden jump? The big trigger was an announcement from CME Group, one of the world's largest exchanges. On October 19, CME plans to launch Bitcoin Cash futures (contracts that let big investors bet on a coin's future price without owning the coin itself), pending regulatory approval.

Here are the key numbers:

• Bitcoin Cash jumped as much as 30%, briefly touching $358, with its weekly gain topping 50%.
• Bitcoin SV rose about 20%, hitting a yearly high near $21.
• Bitcoin itself slipped toward $84,000, down from a seven-month high near $87,250.

Adding fuel, investment firm Grayscale filed to turn its Bitcoin Cash Trust into a spot ETF (an easy-to-buy fund that tracks a coin's price and trades like a stock). This gives BCH an extra story about big institutions getting interested.

Still, experts warn this pattern is familiar. Smaller coins often shoot up in short bursts, then give back their gains. Because these coins are much smaller than Bitcoin, their prices swing more wildly and are easier to push around.

The bottom line: Bitcoin cooled off, but its spinoffs grabbed the spotlight thanks to fresh news. History suggests these sharp rallies can fade just as fast as they arrive.

This is an AI-generated summary. Read the original article at: https://decrypt.co/379048/bitcoin-dips-but-forks-are-flying-bch-bsv