The price of the digital currency bitcoin rebounded on Monday after slumping in recent sessions in the wake of a cancelled software upgrade, while bitcoin offshoot Bitcoin Cash fell sharply.
On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, was at $6,263.80 by 04:55 AM ET (09:55 AM GMT), up 9.15%, rebounding from Sunday’s one-month trough of $5,426.00.
Bitcoin fell around 25% in recent sessions, dropping below the $6,000 level on Sunday after touching an all-time high just shy of $7,900 last week.
Prices slumped after a planned software upgrade due to take place this week was called off due to waning support.
The planned split or fork, known as “SegWit2x”, would have roughly doubled the network’s processing capacity, making fees for bitcoin transactions much cheaper.
As bitcoin tumbled traders shifted to an alternative version of the digital currency, Bitcoin Cash, which was generated from another software split on August 1.
was last at $1,170.90, down 13.9% for the day, having retreated from Sunday’s record high of $2,790.00.
Bitcoin Cash has a total market cap of around $20 billion at current prices, making it the third most valuable cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin, which is known for sharp swings, has tended to rebound quickly from pullbacks. It has risen more than 500% so far this year and at current prices has a total market capitalization of around $105 billion.
The sharp rise has given rise to fears of an asset bubble. Earlier this month Credit Suisse Chief Executive Tidjane Thiam warned that Bitcoin is the “very definition of a bubble.” […]
Source: Bitcoin Rebounds as Bitcoin Cash Rally Runs Out of Steam
