Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of the best-performing crypto assets this week after surging over 50% in the past five days to reach a four-month high. Trading at around $182 as of writing on June 23, BCH is in the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market cap. As it stands, BCH is the 20th most valuable cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of over $3.45 billion with a circulating supply of over 19.42 million out of 21 million.
The BCH boom also comes with a significant increase in open interest, indicating renewed investor interest in an altcoin that promises cheaper transaction fees and scalability than Bitcoin, the parent blockchain whose scalability remains limited.
Bitcoin Cash Rising On Improving Sentiment
The uptick in Bitcoin Cash – and cryptocurrency prices, in general, was related to positive market sentiment and supportive fundamental development in the industry. Notably, rising institutional interest by players such as Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager with over $9 trillion, has been cited as a primary driver of bitcoin’s price. BlackRock has filed an application with the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a spot foreign exchange exchange fund (ETF).
Bitcoin Cash is an alternative currency that emerged due to the hard fork of Bitcoin in September 2017. The platform is scalable and can process transactions at a cheaper rate. However, while it maintains the same consensus algorithm as Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Cash network can pack more transactions into each block, given the larger block size.
The increasing bullish trend across the crypto space has positively impacted Bitcoin Cash. According to CoinMarketCap dataBCH has outperformed Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other liquid crypto assets. In the top 20, BCH is up 70% in the last trading week and 35% in the last trading day alone.
At this level, the Bitcoin Cash network is now more valuable than Cosmos, Monero, and Uniswap. Meanwhile, Bitcoin Cash is at a four-month high, and bulls have forced prices above key resistance levels and are trading at a 13-month high in the May 2022 region.
BCH open interest soaring
On the back of this is a rise in open interest, indicating an increase in both speculative and hedging activity surrounding the BCH. To extend this development, traders and investors may take positions in anticipation of a further rise in prices, given the sharp expansion on June 23rd.
according to CoinglassOpen interest for BCH is over $229 million, up 85% on the last trading day. Trading volumes associated with Bitcoin Cash have reached more than $2.8 billion during this time, a 4-fold increase.
Featured image from Canva, chart from TradingView