The Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain’s hard fork, BSV, has been making record-breaking gains. With a price surge of more than 70% as of this writing, the cryptocurrency hit $84.8, a level not seen since April 2022.
The spike may be attributed to the prevailing optimistic market sentiment, however there are other factors at play for Bitcoin SV.
BSV’s Surge: South Korea Dominates
With this latest surge, BSV’s monthly gains have surpassed 82%, and its trading volume has risen noticeably to over $770 million. This rise appears to be influenced by the persistently optimistic market sentiment in the larger cryptocurrency market, with South Korean investors especially playing a significant role.
Upbit, a well-known cryptocurrency exchange in South Korea, was responsible for $515 million worth of BSV trades in the last day, according to CoinGecko data. With more than 67% of the transaction volume, it commands a huge proportion. This suggests that South Korean investors are interested in BSV.
At the time of writing, Bithumb, another well-known cryptocurrency trading platform in Asia, accounted for about 5% of all trades in the asset. By itself, South Korean cryptocurrency traders accounted for more than 75% of BSV’s entire trading volume on the previous day.
In 2018, Craig Wright initiated the creation of BSV by implementing a hard fork of BCH, which itself had undergone a hard fork from the original BTC chain in August 2017. Nevertheless, the asset has sparked significant debate as its originator asserts to be the true Satoshi Nakamoto, yet fails to provide definitive proof.
BSV Surges 80% Amidst ETF Anticipation
The market’s widespread excitement around the potential approval of a spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the US is one factor contributing to the rising value of BSV. As a result, throughout the last 30 days, the value of the Bitcoin fork has increased by nearly 80%.
To stop illicit activity in the space, South Korea recently made the decision to create a framework for crypto regulations. Furthermore, a December 27 update disclosed that the nation has mandated public officials to disclose their cryptocurrency holdings, marking a noteworthy advancement in the regulation of the space.
Given the sense of security that comes with operating in a regulated industry, investors may have taken notice of these developments.
Meanwhile, BSV is still down 82.29% from its all-time high in 2020, when it was among the largest cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, despite the coin’s recent price increase.
Often referred to as “Satoshi’s Vision” for Bitcoin, BSV experienced a little decline in its market value following a Coinbase statement. The top US cryptocurrency exchange said that, as of January 9, 2024, it will no longer support Bitcoin SV.
In October of last year, BSV was the victim of an empty block mining attack. An empty block attack occurs when miners consciously choose to omit transactions from the blocks they verify, slowing down the network for users in the process.
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