The Curious Case Of a Fast Rising Bitcoin Offshoot: Bitcoin Private

After a bearish Q1 2018 for the cryptocurrency market, which saw the total market cap drop by $300 billion since its peak in December 2017, Q2 is marked by bitcoin and its hard forks in a bullish uptrend.

Separate Coins for Separate Objectives

In what could be either be a case of mistaken identity or solid fundamentals, the previously less popular bitcoin hard forks are seemingly gaining faster momentum and more detailed coverage.

While the term sounds complicated, a “hard fork” occurs when developers split into groups over the future direction of a cryptocurrency’s development. However, instead of public riffs and dramatic fall-outs, developers simply go ahead and “split” the crypto into two sets of code with each cryptocurrency now having two distinct blockchains, and two distinct coins.

The most famous hard fork is arguably that of Bitcoin cash, which split from the legacy chain in August 2017, with developers and supporters strongly rooting for their preferred currency. Over time, bitcoin witnessed a handful of other notable hard forks; Bitcoin Diamond (BCD), Bitcoin Gold (BTG), and Bitcoin Private (BTCP). Currently, the latter two of these three hard forks have a total market cap of over $1 billion.

Bitcoin Private Leads Race With Massive Bull Run

What caught the attention of BTCManager was the sheer trading interest in Bitcoin Private, which saw massive volume and a 90 percent price increase in the space of a week. Digging deeper, there’s a number of fundamental developments that took place, which can explain the price spike, as well as any future price action.

At the time of writing, the coin is the 24th largest cryptocurrency by market cap and, at the time of writing, is trading at $55.88 as per data from CoinMarketCap.

Surprisingly, Bitcoin Private is a hard fork of both bitcoin and zclassic, combining the properties of the former and privacy solutions of the latter.

According to BTCP’s official website, here’s how the hard fork took place:

“When the hard fork occurred, a snapshot of all existing ZCL and BTC holdings occurred. Anyone holding ZCL or BTC in a wallet or supported exchange has been credited Bitcoin Private (BTCP) at a 1:1 ratio. For example, if you held 15.4 ZCL and 0.1 BTC, you receive 15.5 BTCP.”

The developers have diligently followed a community-driven approach, and several points add to the coin’s appeal including the lack of a pre-mine, zero founder rewards, Zcash’s privacy technology, and fast transaction speeds.

Furthermore, two recent announcements may have affected the price:

Wallet Launch: Bitcoin Private announced the launch of its native Electrum wallet on April 19, 2018. Labeled “Electrum – BTCP, version 1.1.0,” the wallet offers support for Ledger Nano S, and BTCP developers have expressed thoughts on integrating Segwit support into Electrum.



In the cryptocurrency sector, wallet launches signify a healthy development in the product, which in turn creates positive investor sentiment. The next event revolves around the potential for adoption.

Possible Launch of Merchant Solutions: A favorite feature of any payment-based cryptocurrency is its availability to merchants, retailers, and vendors. In late April 2018, BTCP will launch its Merchant Solution, as stated in an official release.



BTCP is yet unavailable on larger exchanges but is amongst the rare cryptos with developer teams that adhere to the age-old adage; underpromise, overdeliver.