Get 40% Off
🤯 This Tech Portfolio is up 29% YTD! Join Now to Get April’s Top PicksGet The Picks – Just 99 USD

Bitcoin Retreats From All-Time Highs; Bitcoin Gold Adds To Losses

Published 10/30/2017, 02:05 PM
Updated 10/30/2017, 02:05 PM

Investing.com – Bitcoin fell on Monday, after surging above $6,300 for the first time in its nine-year history while Bitcoin gold added to losses.

On the U.S.-based Bitfinex exchange, bitcoin fell to $6082, down $65.1, or 1.06% after hitting an all-time high of $6345. The latest surge in bitcoin saw its market cap rise above $100 billion for the first time.

The record high in bitcoin comes just a week after a split or fork of the underlying software supporting the bitcoin network, created an offshoot coin called Bitcoin gold.

The fortunes of bitcoin gold, however, pale in comparison to that of bitcoin as the newly created cryptocurrency continued to edge lower, falling more than 80% since its trading debut last week to an all-time low of $108.30 on Monday.

Nevertheless, proponents of bitcoin gold argue that the newly created cryptocurrency serves an important purpose as it seeks to decentralize the Bitcoin network, which many believe has become inaccessible to normal users wishing to “mine” bitcoin.

For the uninitiated, Bitcoin miners are users who help maintain the system by validating transactions stored in “blocks” on the network. Using high-powered computer hardware, miners validate blocks by solving a complex “puzzle” – the more powerful the computer the faster its ability to solve the puzzle. Every time a "puzzle" is solved, a reward of roughly 12.5 bitcoins is distributed to the "puzzle solver" or miner.

Application-specific integrated circuits, or ASICs cards - capable of mining bitcoin 50 times faster than traditional video graphics cards – have been rapidly adopted by the lucky few bitcoin miners able afford the super-fast hardware, leading to a concentration of bitcoin miners.

The top six mining pools by global processing power are Chinese, make up more than two-thirds of computational power or hashrate on the bitcoin network, according to blockchain.info.

Cryptocurrency experts argue that Bitcoin gold, an ASIC resistant cryptocurrency, was created to solve the problem of mining monopolies that dominate the bitcoin network.

“Bitcoin Gold is the brainchild of Jack Liao and is launching as a hard fork of Bitcoin”, said prominent Bitcoin developer Jimmy Song. “The idea [of Bitcoin gold] is to give mining back to the users who can start using CPUs and GPUs to mine.”

Bitcoin cash, meanwhile, mimicked bitcoin’s move higher and eventual retreat, rising to a 5-week high of $521.46 on Sunday before pairing gains. Bitcoin cash last traded at $453.30, up 0.07%.

Ethereum, the second largest cryptocurrencies by market cap, added 0.68% to $306.46.

Latest comments

Risk Disclosure: Trading in financial instruments and/or cryptocurrencies involves high risks including the risk of losing some, or all, of your investment amount, and may not be suitable for all investors. Prices of cryptocurrencies are extremely volatile and may be affected by external factors such as financial, regulatory or political events. Trading on margin increases the financial risks.
Before deciding to trade in financial instrument or cryptocurrencies you should be fully informed of the risks and costs associated with trading the financial markets, carefully consider your investment objectives, level of experience, and risk appetite, and seek professional advice where needed.
Fusion Media would like to remind you that the data contained in this website is not necessarily real-time nor accurate. The data and prices on the website are not necessarily provided by any market or exchange, but may be provided by market makers, and so prices may not be accurate and may differ from the actual price at any given market, meaning prices are indicative and not appropriate for trading purposes. Fusion Media and any provider of the data contained in this website will not accept liability for any loss or damage as a result of your trading, or your reliance on the information contained within this website.
It is prohibited to use, store, reproduce, display, modify, transmit or distribute the data contained in this website without the explicit prior written permission of Fusion Media and/or the data provider. All intellectual property rights are reserved by the providers and/or the exchange providing the data contained in this website.
Fusion Media may be compensated by the advertisers that appear on the website, based on your interaction with the advertisements or advertisers.
© 2007-2024 - Fusion Media Limited. All Rights Reserved.