Bitcoin Cash Jumps 30% as CME Futures Launch, Grayscale ETF Filing Land

Bitcoin (BTC) pulled back toward $84,000 on Sept. 23 after touching a seven-month high near $87,250 earlier in the week. While the flagship coin retreated, two of its oldest offshoots moved sharply higher on a pair of back-to-back catalysts.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) surged as much as 30% during the week, reaching $358 before cooling into Wednesday's session.

Bitcoin SV (BSV) rose roughly 20% alongside it, climbing toward $21 and touching its highest level in a year. Both tokens gained even as the broader market cooled.

Bitcoin Cash originated from a

of Bitcoin in August 2017, when a group of developers split over block size and created a separate chain aimed at cheaper, faster transactions.

then split from

in 2018 during a dispute known as the "Hash War," when Craig Wright's faction pushed for larger blocks and a return to what it described as Bitcoin's original design. Both networks have traded well below

Bitcoin (

) in price and volume since their respective splits, with occasional sharp rallies tied to specific events.

The catalyst for BCH this week was CME Group, which announced Monday it will launch Bitcoin Cash futures contracts on Oct. 19, pending regulatory review. Standard contracts will cover 250 BCH, with micro versions covering 25 BCH for smaller traders. CME's global head of cryptocurrency products, Giovanni Vicioso, said the contracts give institutions "broader, regulated tools to navigate evolving digital asset related price risk." The listing makes Bitcoin Cash CME's tenth single-asset crypto contract, with Uniswap as the eleventh.