Bitcoin Dips, But Its Forks Are Flying Again

In brief

• Bitcoin Cash jumped as much as 30% this week after CME Group said it will launch BCH and Uniswap futures on Oct. 19.
• Bitcoin SV, a fork of Bitcoin Cash born out of 2018's "Hash War," rode the same wave, gaining roughly 20% in sympathy and touching an annual high near $21.
• Bitcoin itself slipped back toward $84,000 on Wednesday.

Bitcoin pulled back Wednesday, sliding toward $84,000 after touching a seven-month high near $87,250 earlier in the week.

The retreat came as traders rotated into two unlikely winners: Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV, forks that split off Bitcoin's main chain years apart. Both tokens posted some of their sharpest gains in months even as the broader market cooled.

Bitcoin Cash split from Bitcoin's main chain in August 2017 over a dispute about block size, aiming for cheaper, faster payments rather than pure store-of-value use. Bitcoin SV split from Bitcoin Cash just over a year later in a fight known as the "Hash War," when a faction led by Craig Wright pushed for even bigger blocks and a return to Bitcoin's original design.

Both networks have traded at a fraction of Bitcoin's price and volume ever since, occasionally spiking in tandem when a fresh catalyst hits.