Changes in symbol for BCHABC
CoinMarketCap listed BCHABC up until November 19th but then switched to the original BCH symbol and has since then listed BCH as a continuing coin after the fork as BCH abandoning the BCHABC symbol. However, BCHSV remains as a separate listing.
Hard forks
According to Investopedia: “A hard fork (or sometimes hardfork), as it relates to blockchain technology, is a radical change to the protocol that makes previously invalid blocks/transactions valid (or vice-versa). This requires all nodes or users to upgrade to the latest version of the protocol software. Put differently, a hard fork is a permanent divergence from the previous version of the blockchain, and nodes running previous versions will no longer be accepted by the newest version. This essentially creates a fork in the blockchain: one path follows the new, upgraded blockchain, and the other path continues along the old path. Generally, after a short period of time, those on the old chain will realize that their version of the blockchain is outdated or irrelevant and quickly upgrade to the latest version. ”
However, sometimes the two coins simply continue on even though one is more dominant and of greater value than the other. Bitcoin Cash is itself the result of a fork in Bitcoin in which the two coins continued on after the fork with the larger and more valuable Bitcoin never being able to get those who supported the alternative coin to give up.
Bitcoin Cash ABC
The Bitcoin Cash ABC community is led by Roger Ver a promoter of Bitcoin Cash, and Jihan Wu, the co-founder of Bitmain. Miners supporting Bitcoin Cash ABC include BTC.om, Antpool, and Bitcoin.com
The ABC version is intended to preserve the original functionality and vision behind the Bitcoin Cash network. This includes the present block size of 32 MB. However, there are some improvements.
In the official post about ABC a two-pronged approach to scaling was suggested: ” Remove immediate implementation bottlenecks to increasing the block size limit. Lay the technical groundwork for massive future on-chain scaling.” Scaling is the ability to handle many transactions with greater speed as the number of transactions on a platform increases.
The ABC version has also implemented code for interoperability between cryptocurrencies, a feature Bitcoin Cash did not have before the fork.
Bitcoin Cash SV the Satoshi Vision
This new coin is led by Craig Wright, sometimes called the “Fake Satoshi”. Satoshi Nakamoto is the name used by the anonymous founder or founders of Bitcoin. The miners who support his position include Coingeek and Bitcoin.org.
The changes in this version of Bitcoin Cash are dramatic. The block size for example is increased from 32 MB to 128 MB. There have been changes as well that will make it easier to make the change to smart contracts on its network.
The Hash Wars
Hash power or mining power is explained in the appended video. The competing blockchain with the most hash power will become more secure and have a longer blockchain. If one of the competing coin chains fails to get the majority of the hash power available it will lose momentum and cause miners to move to the more successful coin.
The BCHABC group lead off about 22 minutes before BCHSV as the separate blockchains came into play. Recently the ABC version was leading the way with a 61 percent hash rate while the BHSCV version had just a 39 percent rate.
Several people argued in tweets that the ABC version had already won the war.
Wu stated that he would not give up on the hash war and allow Wright to win. Although he said he did not intend to start a hash war with Wright. He could fight Wright by relocating hash power from BTC mining to BCH mining the ABC version. However, Wu was concerned this could cause Bitcoin to drop even further. However, WU said Wright was relentless so he had to fight to the death.
Negative effects of the hash war
The hash war is hurting both sides as both are mining at substantial losses. The cost in electric power to mine each of these coins is more than they are worth at present. Both networks have suffered large losses so far. It is quite possible that the hash war has impacted negatively on the price of Bitcoin.
SV miners have estimated losses of about $397,000 with ABC miners losing a little less at $365,000. ABC has an overall lead of 11 blocks on SV. In terms of blockchain support the ABC is leading. It is not clear yet if anyone will win in the sense of the competing coin completely collapses. Bitcoin was more valuable and could be said to have won over Bitcoin Cash but Bitcoin Cash survived as one of the top ten coins even though per coin it is worth far less.
At 19:54 UTC the price of the SV version was just $51.26 whereas Bitcoin (BCH) the ABC version at 19:59 was $238.50. While it seems the ABC version is clearly ahead in many respects both coins have increased their value the last short while. It may take some time before one coin fails if it happens at all.
