Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of the top-performing crypto assets this week after surging over 50% in the past five days to reach a four-month high. Trading at around $182 when writing on June 23, BCH is in the top 20 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. As it is, BCH is the 20th most valuable coin with a market capitalization of over $3.45 billion with a circulating supply of more than 19.42 million out of the 21 million.
The BCH surge also comes with a notable surge in open interest, signaling renewed investor interest in the altcoin that promises cheaper transaction fees and scalability than Bitcoin, the parent blockchain whose scalability remains limited.
Bitcoin Cash Rallying On Improving Sentiment
The uptick in Bitcoin Cash—and cryptocurrency prices, in general, has been pinned to positive market sentiment and supportive fundamental development in the industry. Notably, the increasing institutional interest from players such as Blackrock, the world’s largest asset manager with over $9 trillion, has been cited as the primary driver of Bitcoin prices. BlackRock has submitted an application with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for a Bitcoin spot exchange-traded fund (ETF).
Bitcoin Cash is an altcoin that emerged due to a hard fork from Bitcoin in September 2017. The platform is scalable and can process transactions more cheaply. However, while it retains the same consensus algorithm as Bitcoin, the Bitcoin Cash network can pack more transactions in every block, considering its larger block size.
The increasing bullishness across the crypto sphere has positively impacted BCH. According to CoinMarketCap data, BCH has outperformed Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other liquid crypto assets. In the top 20, BCH is up 70% in the last trading week and 35% on the last trading day alone.
At this level, the Bitcoin Cash network is now more valuable than Cosmos, Monero, and Uniswap. Meanwhile, BCH is at a four-month high, and bulls have forced prices above key resistance levels and are trading at a 13-month high in May 2022 territory.
Surging BCH Open Interest
At the back of this is a spike in open interest, suggesting an increase in both speculative and hedging activities surrounding BCH. Extending this development, traders and investors may be taking positions in anticipation of further price appreciation, considering the sharp expansion on June 23.
According to Coinglass, BCH’s open interest is over $229 million, an 85% spike in the last trading day. BCH-related trading volumes stand at over $2.8 billion during this time, a 4X surge.
Features Image From Canva, Chart From TradingView
