By
Temitope Olatunji
April 26th, 2024
Bitcoin Cash remains a long distance from its all-time high of $4,355 which it attained back in December 2017.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is currently seeing a surge in open interest, and the reasons may not be far-fetched. On Thursday, open interest in Bitcoin Cash futures perpetual contracts soared to levels not seen since May 2021, reaching an impressive $708.75 million all-time high in the process.
The surge signals an 18.26% rise within 24 hours, and a 165% bump over the last seven days, per Coinglass data. Similarly, BCH price has picked up pace, surging 6.05% in the past 24 hours to stand at $578 as of press time.
Why Bitcoin Cash Is Seeing Record-Breaking Open Interest
The second-ever Bitcoin Cash halving is only a few days away. According to projections, the event, which will cut block rewards in half, is scheduled to take place on April 4. However, traders and investors appear to have already entered a race to secure good positions in anticipation of potential price movements.
A positive takeaway is that the surge in open interest indicates Bitcoin Cash is now more appealing than ever. This is because halving usually brings scarcity – a general recipe for increased value. So, traders might be bracing up for the potential price appreciation that will likely come with the upcoming event.
Miner activity is another factor that could be driving the surge. With the halving expected to bring block rewards from 6.25 BCH to 3.125 BCH, miners too would be doubling down on their efforts.
A popular X user identified as DavidShares has corroborated this line of thought in a recent post. The user reported that the Bitcoin Cash hash rate has doubled in the past week.
Still Struggling with Acceptance
Despite its self-acclaimed technical superiority, BCH is still struggling to warm its way to the hearts of crypto lovers. Its market capitalization is significantly lower than that of Bitcoin (BTC), and it often faces skepticism due to its name and what appears to be a controversial history. To date, many view it as a “Bitcoin wannabe”, while others see it as an unserious experiment and not a real competitor to BTC.
For a better perspective, Bitcoin approaches its fourth halving on April 21 amid record highs. On the other hand, Bitcoin Cash remains a long distance from its all-time high of $4,355 which it attained back in December 2017.
Be that as it may, Bitcoin Cash’s open interest surge is a positive that shows a budding interest in the cryptocurrency. Whether BCH would be able to maintain the momentum, however, remains to be seen. One thing is clear though, the countdown to the halving has injected fresh energy into the BCH market.