Two sides of the Bitcoin Cash community continue to face off, but the war is proving far from cheap for either party.
Bitcoin Cash ABC, backed by Jihan Wu and Roger Ver, is trying to hold off the Craig Wright-backed Bitcoin Cash SV, in the battle over the Bitcoin Cash name. However, as supporters of each token funnel resources into the fight, significant losses are beginning to rack up.
Mining costs, cost of leasing extra hash power, and plummeting crypto prices have both sides firmly in the red, per BitMex Research. In a live update on their Twitter account, they spell out the costs accrued by BCHABC and BSV.
Calculated off assumed energy costs, ABC miners have lost $1.2 million so far, and SV $2.1 million. Factoring hardware leasing into it, the two sides have a combined gross loss of $8.9 million.
With neither side looking ready to give up the BCH mantle, it’s feasible that losses will break $10 million, sooner rather than later.
An interesting sidenote of BitMex’s data is that, despite common sentiment that BCHABC has all but won the hash war, BSV is still neck and neck in blocks mined.
As of the time of their latest post, BCHABC had 878 blocks mined, compared to 872 from BSV.
BCHABC still appears to be the clear frontrunner, as they currently have a higher token value, and the financial capabilities to continue the hash war longer than Wright and BSV supporters. They also have more support from the community in general, with CoinMarketCap, for example, listing BCHABC under the Bitcoin Cash name. Some exchanges, such as Kraken and Huobi, have followed suit.
Who wins the war is anyone’s guess at this point. It’s a game of chicken, and with the capital behind each side, it is going to come down to who submits first. But what is clear is that the crypto market will continue to struggle until a resolution is met.
You can follow the hash war as it happens at https://hashwar.live/
