Bitcoin’s Spike Toward $8,000 Fades as Free-Money Trades Unwind

LAGOS (Capital Markets in Africa) – Turns out not everyone is happy with the detente in bitcoin’s civil war.

While the cryptocurrency soared to a record $7,882 within minutes of news that it would avoid another split on Wednesday, the gains quickly evaporated. Bitcoin is now trading about 3 percent below where it was before a faction of the community scrapped plans for a so-called hard fork.

Some speculators are disappointed they won’t get the additional coins that would have been created by a hard fork. While bitcoin splits are potentially disruptive, they’ve so far amounted to free money for holders of the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin Cash, the result of a hard fork in August, now trades for around $600 and Bitcoin Gold, created in October, fetches about $140.

Bitcoin’s reversal was “likely due to disappointment among some that they wouldn’t get their free coins,” said Thomas Glucksmann, Hong Kong-based head of marketing at cryptocurrency exchange Gatecoin Ltd. “But overall we see the price recovering, given that bitcoin’s future is more certain now.”

Source: Bloomberg Business News