Those holding on to their Bitcoins - or hodlers as they are known in crypto parlance - despite the uncertainty that seems to hover over the Aug. 1 deadline for a network split, may now seem to have a firm reason to justify their stance.
With barely a day more, Bitcoin price has not tanked as it was earlier suggested in some quarters.
Just as Bitcoin price has seen some turbulence this month following the campaign by the BCH camp to push BTC to the edge, there have been reports of a likely crash of BTC’s price to below the $2,000 range as the supposed split day nears.
However, that does not seem to be happening.
As at the time of this writing, BTC price has touched the $2,742 point - a feat it has only achieved in June and July this year - and maintained its spot on or around this range with no major sign of budging lower anytime soon.
Taking a chance? No point
Aside from standing by the principle behind the BTC ideology, hardcore “hodlers” are of the view that there is no point taking a chance if they are sure which side will win.
Others don't believe there is any chance for BCH to maintain its value in the long term hence its market will eventually be added to BTC’s.
Litecoin shaky
The likely losers in the squabble would include coins that have had a swell in their market cap in the last couple of months. One of such is Litecoin. Aside from that, there isn’t much incentive to use Litecoin if all goes well with the SegWit activation on the Bitcoin network, nothing new is happening to the digital currency that has been dubbed the silver to Bitcoin’s gold.
In the last few days, Litecoin has dropped from the $55 point it reached earlier this month due to the momentum it gathered at the news of its being the main alternative to Bitcoin in the event of a split and non-activation of the SegWit.
Litecoin has since been bleeding slowly to the price of $40. Its fall in price, however, could still be indeterminate considering that Aug. 1 is not here yet. If the market support for the BTC is sustained throughout the period and the SegWit activation gets through, Litecoin’s price will likely drop further.
Between May and July, the Litecoin market cap has almost tripled from about $800,000. Though not established, a large portion of its over $2 bln market may trickle back into Bitcoin in the coming days.