Bitcoin Price Slides 7% As Bitcoin Cash Emerges - Fork Fears?

Bitcoin’s price is taking a beating today as fresh fork talk appears returning fear to the markets.
Bitcoin’s price is taking a beating today as fresh fork talk appears returning fear to the markets.

Bitcoin is again falling Tuesday as last week’s miraculous gains look set to correct downwards.

Cross-exchange data from Coinmarketcap shows a seven percent drop in the USD price per Bitcoin at press time, with 1 BTC worth $2,562.

A rally last week, much of which centered on Thursday’s trading, saw prices on some exchanges shoot up over $500 within hours. Much of the optimism focused on the lock-in of BIP 91, a way forward for the Bitcoin network which would avoid a hard fork.

On Twitter, commentators and investors were cautious.

The rise of Bitcoin Cash over the past few days could present an antidote to the recent calm on the hard fork topic.

Bitcoin Cash, supporters of which demand a fork of the Bitcoin Blockchain, could well go ahead next week, reintroducing uncertainty and ‘versions’ of Bitcoin feared by opponents to drive down prices in the long term.

Meanwhile across the top ten cryptocurrencies, broad losses triggered, with Ethereum down almost 10 percent and Ripple almost 12 percent.

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Ethereum Classic, which had been slower than most to grow last week, also fell, dropping below $15 to reach its lowest levels since mid-May.