App Store chart topper Coinbase introduced support for Bitcoin Cash on Wednesday, allowing users of the cryptocurrency exchange app to trade in the alternative "forked" digital asset.
Bitcoin Cash appeared in early August when a group of developers created a separate version of the Bitcoin blockchain, so that more transactions could be processed at a faster rate, with lower associated fees involved.
When news of a potential split or "fork" in the blockchain first appeared, Coinbase said it would not support trading in the new currency that would be created as a result, but in August it reversed its decision and said customers would be able to withdraw Bitcoin Cash from the first day of 2018.
Following today's app update, all users will be credited an amount of Bitcoin Cash that is equal to their Bitcoin balance when the fork occurred on August 1. Bitcoin Cash trading will also be available on GDAX, which is Coinbase's institutional-based exchange.
The Coinbase app surged to the top of Apple's free apps chart in the App Store last week, amid a speculative frenzy surrounding the blockchain cryptocurrency. Today's announcement that it would support Bitcoin Cash caused BTC to drop sharply in the early hours as users switched currencies, but the value appears to have stabilized since, at around $17,599 as of writing.
Also this week, a new version of the CoinHub app was released. Version 1.5 of the cryptocurrency quote platform brings a new secure portfolio, Reddit and news separation, fresh UI styling, and a FOREX engine that lets users purchase any currency pair and automatically see the value in their local fiat currency.
Top Rated Comments
Early holders of the stock are going to be rich compared to someone who bought a year ago...
There's a lot of speculation going on and there's a good chance of large price drops across the crypto space (as well as chance of even larger price gains). But the underlying technology is real and will change the financial world.