New data is offering insight into how crypto traders are pricing in a coming technical update to bitcoin cash, one that could cause the world's fourth most valuable blockchain to split into two competing networks.
At press time, there are now almost twice as many open short positions betting that the price of bitcoin cash (BCH) will fall as there are longs betting its price will rise. According to data from crypto exchange Bitfinex, which allows margin trading for multiple cryptocurrencies, there are currently 89,457 open BCH short positions and 53,322 longs.
That so much market activity is taking place is perhaps no coincidence, since there is a network update scheduled for bitcoin cash set to take place on Nov. 15. Under one possible outcome, BCH will split into two cryptocurrencies – one centered around the Bitcoin ABC software, the other around the Bitcoin SV versions of the software – resulting in two distinct versions of the code.