The Bitcoin Cash halving is expected to occur today, where the block reward for miners securing the network will drop from 12.5 coins to 6.25.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a completely independent coin that forked from the bitcoin blockchain after disputes concerning slow transaction speeds and escalating fees could not be resolved among network participants.
The developers of BCH created a new chain with a block size 8 times that of its parent, Bitcoin. This would allow more transactions to be recorded to each block, increasing the speed of the network and improving on scalability.
Operating on the same fundamental core, BCH systematically reduces the reward given to miners for securing the network in order to maintain a deflationary model.
Bitcoin Cash continues the rally that began this morning in anticipation of the event, initially gaining a massive 12% increase in just a couple of hours.
It is worth mentioning that Bitcoin SV (BSV) will be experiencing its own halving shortly after BCH, and it is unsurprising to see these two coins stand apart from most other altcoins and even BTC this morning.
There are some concerns over what the halving will mean for the security of the network. As miners of both BCH and BSV flock to Bitcoin, there will be a lot more strain placed upon those that remain, and the networks could become vulnerable to a 51 percent attack.
This is where a single entity controls over half of the network hash rate. If this were to occur, hackers could potentially initiate ‘double-spends’ and halt the transactions recorded to the blockchain.
One thing is for certain though, the price rally of these forked coins hours ahead of the halving gives us a glimpse into what will take place during the main event in approximately a months’ time.
Bitcoin is the father of all cryptocurrency, and this giant will experience its own halving event during the month of May. When a similar rally takes place as expected, those that bought Bitcoin when the price recently plummeted to around $4,000 could potentially earn a small fortune.