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GETTY•COINDESK Bitcoin LIVE: Latest news and live updates ahead of the Bitcoin Cash split

A minority of bitcoin miners have 'forked' to create a new version of bitcoin, called bitcoin cash, splitting the blockchain into two. The fork has not affected bitcoin balances but it created a new bitcoin cash token on a new blockchain with different rules. CoinDesk said a group of miners and developers have created an alternative network to prove bigger blocks in a bid to increase network capacity. It said the effort effectively forked bitcoin's existing software and transaction history and gave every bitcoin user new cryptocurrency tokens.

Amid concerns over trading choas and the impact on bitcoin’s price, here is a look at the latest bitcoin and bitcoin cash prices and breaking news. WHAT IS THE BITCOIN FORK? Wednesday August 2 10.20pm BST: We're back up to $388.69. It's been an erratic day but it looks like Bitcoin cash is going to end the day higher than it finished yesterday. 8.51pm BST: The value of Bitcoin cash continues to drop this evening, down to $313.56 as we approach 9pm. 5.26pm BST: Bitcoin cash price drops According to CoinMarketCap, bitcoin cash is worth $475.62 as of 5.26pm. Bitcoin opened at $2,735.59 today. Today's high is $2,755.54 and today's low is $2,703.73. 1.30pm BST: Bitcoin cash dominates the market On what is essentially its first day on the markets, BCH has already risen to be the third most valuable cryptocurrency under bitcoin and ethereum. Bitcoin had a market cap of over $10 billion as of 1.30pm on CoinMarketCap. In terms of current price, BCH is valued at $641.30 – nearly three times the $222.14 value of Ethereum. As bitcoin cash continues to grow in value, find out all you need to know about the new currency here. WHAT IS BITCOIN CASH?

COINMARKETCAP.COM Bitcoin prices latest: BCH has the third highest market cap in its first 24 hours of trading

coinmarketcap.com Bitcoin cash: This is the latest bitcoin cash futures graph as of 8.20am on August 2

4am BST: CoinDesk, who track bitcoin's value, said: “With exchanges listing the coin and newly-found Bitcoin Cash owners taking control of their assets, one of the big questions will be what happens with the price of the digital asset. “One prospect that does seem likely: a sea-change in the tenor of the years-long scaling debate, the disagreements over which arguably led to the events of today. “When it comes to bigger blocks or a more nuanced approach – it seems it's now up to the market to decide.”

COINDESK Bitcoin price latest: This is the latest Bitcoin price graph as of 8.49am on August 2

Tuesday August 1 Midnight: Bitcoin closed at $2,735.59. Tuesday’s high was $2,925.03 and its low was $2,680.85. 9.45pm BST: Bitcoin cash developer welcomes 'amazing level of support' Kraken Exchange, which has about 10 percent of the US dollar bitcoin trade volume, said trades for bitcoin cash were pricing the new coin around $192. Amaury Sechet, lead developer behind bitcoin cash, told CNBC: "Bitcoin Cash will have to prove itself over time and gain trust from users. "The current price may [seem] low but this is actually an amazing level of support." 7.57pm BST: Bitcoin cash price drop after trading starts Bitcoin cash meanwhile is finally trading under BCH and has dropped to $222.71 on CoinMarketCap.com as of 7.59pm BST. According to CoinDesk, Bitcoin is trading at $2,756.61 at 7.57pm BST. The currency opened today at $2,873.83. 7.14pm BST: First bitcoin cash block mined ViaBTC mined the first bitcoin cash block at about 7.14pm UTC, according to CoinDesk. At 6.54pm BST, Bitfinex tweeted: “We are currently working on crediting $BCH to your accounts - as of this moment, no one has been credited. “Thank you for your patience!” 6.26pm BST: Slow start for bitcoin cash show lack of support Iqbal V Gandham, the managing director at eToro,thinks that the delay in the fork shows a lack of support for the new cryptocurrency. “It’s been a slow start for bitcoin cash,” he explained. “The delay in the bitcoin split could be a result of a lack of miner support for the new cryptocurrency. “Everyone expected the split to happen at 1.30pm UK time, or thereabouts. What this really meant is that at some point after this time the very first block of the new chain supporting BCC would get mined. “However the time it takes to mine that first block is all a function of how much computing power is thrown at mining this block. “It seems as if people over-estimated the mining power, or the support from miners, hence it is taking far longer than most expected." 4.15pm: Bitcoin’s fork is a good sign for the future Eleesa Dadiani, a cryptocurrency innovator and founder and owner of Dadiani Fine Art, thinks that the fork is a positive sign of the “evolution” of bitcoin. “It is important to bear in mind that everything is comprised of layers,” she said. “Some of these layers will be affected more so than others, but not necessarily bitcoin as a whole technology. “We’ve seen a similar case scenario with Ethereum, hence now we have Ethereum and Ethereum classic, both valuable technologies with Ethereum (the offshoot) second to bitcoin, and Ethereum Classic occupying 7th position. “For a technology to lead and survive thus far, against its many obituaries (a pleasantry amongst the bitcoin community), indicates that it is entirely useful and will continue to be within its current structure and beyond; hence my view is that bitcoin ‘classic’ will maintain its value both as a technology and hence its token. “On the other hand, if something as drastic as a fork is instigated amongst the brightest minds behind the mechanism, then this could lead to an evolutionary process that could actually increase possibilities and opportunity. Let the games begin.’ 4.10pm: Bitcoin price still reeling after fork initiated According to CoinDesk, the current price of bitcoin as of 4.10pm stands at $2,727.05. Today’s high was at $2,925.03. Bitcoin cash is currently trading on the futures market at $312.67, according to CoinMarketCap.com.

3.50pm BST: Bitcoin fork should be a ‘seismic event’ Jordan Hiscott, chief trader at Ayondo Markets, believes that the bitcoin cash fork will send ripples though the market, but it is likely fail in the end. He said: "The spilt has the ability to completely change the structure of how Bitcoin is processed via Blockchain and how it is seen by investors and speculators. "In this sense, it should be a truly seismic event. “However, due to a lack of support from some of the major exchanges, it looks at this stage as though Bitcoin cash will fail to gain traction. "This may change going forward, but what is more pressing is the effect on the incumbent Bitcoin product, which at the moment is fairly muted, if slightly negative. “Despite this result, I can only see cryptocurrencies gain more popularity in the near future as investors become despondent with fiat currencies.” 3.15pm BST: Bitcoin cash fork could complete in hours or days The bitcoin cash fork is fully underway but the process itself could take up to several hours. As of 3.06pm BST the BTC blockchain is five blocks ahead of the BCC blockchain which is yet to produce its own currency. “It's likely going to take at least several hours,” bitGo engineer Jameson Lopp tweeted. 2.51pm BST: Bitcoin continues to drop The value of the cryptocurrency continues to drop as the bitcoin cash fork continues. The value of bitcoin is $2,680.45 as of 2.49pm BST, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin cash is meanwhile trading on the futures market for $389.16, according to CoinMarketCap.com as of 2.51pm BST. 2.35pm BST: Bitcoin cash nodes operational Bitcoin cash nodes are now operation and bitcoin manners are waiting for the first block on the new chain.

Fork has happened. Now awaiting first block from Bitcoin Cash. Regardless of opinions, this is very exciting/fascinating day in cryptoland. — Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) August 1, 2017

2.14pm BST: CoinDesk tweeted: "Bitcoin Fork Watch: 3 Blocks Were Just Mined in Quick Succession.” 2.09pm BST: Bitcoin cash has a good chance of succeeding, predicts analyst Antony Abell, the managing director of blockchain applications company TrustMe, thinks bitcoin cash has a good chance to overcome bitcoin’s inherent problems. “The BTC fork to support the new BCC blockchain is a bold and innovative means to jump start a new currency,” he explained. “The BTC blockchain has proven its resilience over many years now to hacking and other attacks against it. Conversely, this trust in BTC has supported its continuous rise in price, effectively making it more expensive to use and slower to confirm transactions. “Perversely, this has open up the opportunity for BCC advocates to introduce a cheaper and faster BTC variant to overcome BTC’s problems. “We give BCC a good chance of success.”

BTCFORKMONITOR.COM The bitcoin cash fork is currently underway

2pm BST: Price of bitcoin cash on the rise According to CoinMarketCap.com, the price of bitcoin cash is on the rise and hit $314.88 at 2.05pm. Bitcoin cash was created at 1.20pm, causing a fork cryptocurrency. 1:48pm BST Bitcoin Cash set to launch in five blocks CoinDesk Bitcoin Fork Watch said: You might have heard that the controversial fork is scheduled for 12:20 UTC on August 1, but the story is a little more complicated than that. The launch doesn’t trigger right as a block is mined after that time. Rather, the activation is based on Median Time Past, which means that the median timestamp of the last 11 blocks must be over 12:20 UTC. In other words, six blocks need to be mined after the original block past that time. At press time, the last two bitcoin blocks, mined by Bitfury and ViaBTC, were both under 1 MB.

COINDESK Bitcoin price latest: At 2.19pm BST the price was £2,757.56

1.41pm: Bitcoin is in need of regulation argue analysts Christian Kourtis, a senior associate at Gowling WLG, said that today’s events prove that cryptocurrencies are in need of stronger regulation by the authorites. He explained: "Authorities may argue that technical events, such as forks on the network, mean that greater regulatory supervision is required for cryptocurrencies to protect the public. “Today's Segwit2x and Bitcoin Cash fork poses a risk for users of the cryptocurrency during the transition phase. “In the event that only a minority of the network computing power supports one of the branches there is a potential for this weaker branch to become orphaned by the network or, in certain circumstances, for the forks to converge resulting in the ‘wipe out’ of the weaker branch. “Here, there is clearly a risk to the public if they do not fully appreciate the significance of these technical events.” 1.24pm BST: Bitcoin dips after bitcoin cash launched The popular cryptocurrency dropped to $2,757.06 at 1.23pm, after steadily rising earlier to $2817.79 at 1.03pm, according to CoinDesk. 1.20pm: Bitcoin cash launches! Ten minutes ago it was trading at $262.30 on the futures market, according to CoinMarketCap.

CoinDesk Bitcoin price latest: This price graph shows the value of bitcoin at 1.20pm

12.30pm: Bitcoin’s ‘civil war’ is not over Stefan Thomas, a contributor to the Pay-to-script-hash (P2SH) feature rolled out on the bitcoin network in 2011 and the CTO of Ripple, believes that the current problems faced by the cryptocurrency were inevitable. “Today’s outcome is good for Bitcoin users as it avoids potentially significant losses and market instability,” he explains. “That said, we think this agreement is only kicking the can down the road, because the fundamental governance issues beleaguering Bitcoin haven’t gone away. “Even as early as 2011, it was apparent that as Bitcoin grew, it would become increasingly harder to get buy-in for important technical improvements. “The ‘civil war’ isn’t over. The root issue is the conflicting incentives between miners, developers and users of Bitcoin.” Noon BST: Value of bitcoin rises again The value of bitcoin is rising again after a dip this morning. Bitcoin surged yesterday ahead of the fork today. Bitcoin Cash will launch at 1.20pm BST today. Today's high is $2,925.03 and today's low is $2,680.85 so far, according to CoinDesk. 11.36am: Bitcoin cash worth one tenth of bitcoin on futures market Bitcoin cash is currently worth £276.5 on the futures market - just one tenth of the current bitcoin price $2,772. Dr Garrick Hileman, a research fellow at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, said this price should be “taken with a grain of salt” and it is not known what will happen to value of bitcoin cash this afternoon. He said the price will depend on which exchanges allow trading on bitcoin cash and whether users decide to sell, buy or hold it. He added: “Because millions of people are going to hold bitcoin cash, it is probably going to be around for some time.”

9.45am BST: Bitcoin fork could lead to trading 'chaos' Dr Garrick Hileman, research fellow at the Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance, warned that there could be swings in the value of both types of Bitcoin over coming days. "My sense is that the split can be managed if exchanges and wallets take the necessary precautions," he said. "But I suspect some will not be well prepared as this happened quickly and a lot of organisations are coming on board at the last minute. "It wouldn't surprise me if there is some chaos."

8pm BST: Bitcoin to split into BTC and BCC today With the fork scheduled for today, the Bitcoin blockchain will split resulting in two sets of tokens, bitcoin (BTC) on the original chain, and bitcoin cash (BCC) in the new one. Anyone who already holds bitcoins will have coins in both sets, the BCC and BTC.

Monday July 31 8.40pm BST: Finance expert draws similarities with Ethereum Charlie Morris, the chief investment officer of NextBlock Global, said: “Bitcoin cash basically came out of nowhere. “A group of miners who didn't like SegWit2x are going to opt for this new software that will increase the size of blocks from the current 1 megabyte to 8. "It will be similar to what happened with Ethereum when Ethereum came to the scene. "The two currencies marketcap equaled out to the marketcap of the original Ethereum." 7.50pm BST: Bitcoin could surge to $5,000 claims analyst Independent research analyst Ronnie Moas believes that bitcoin could surge to a staggering $5,000 price target in 2018 – an 80 per cent gain on its current price. Mr Moas published a 122-page report on bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, saying he also expects ethereum to double in value. "In my view, the genie is out of the bottle, and cryptocurrencies will continue to rise and take market share away from stocks, other precious metals, bonds and currencies," he wrote in his report. "I think investors should take a shot on this and hold for a few years. If you lose a few bucks, at least you took a shot," he added. "In life, you miss every shot that you do not take. It will probably be more upsetting to watch it (from the sidelines) go up another 1,000%."

4.40pm BST: Ethereum drops in value as bitcoin surges The cryptocurrency market is surging with bitcoin climbing up on a positive gain, while other currencies are expereincing a price drop. Bitcoin passed the $2,800 mark today, indicating a 5 per cent growth rate. But Ethereum is struggling, with a 14 per cent drop this week on top of its month-long decline. Ethereum is down 1.41 per cent and is valued at $194.62 according to CoinDesk. It hit a high of $200.05 today and a low of $193.41. The currency opened at $197.41.

CoinDesk Bitcoin price graph: Latest price as of 9.45am BST

2.55pm BST: Today's high is $2,805.43 and the cryptocurrency hit a low of $2,706.82 today, according to CoinDesk. Bitcoin opened today at $2,746.33 Bitcoin Cash meanwhile has been dropping in value, currently trading at $285.56, according to CoinMarketCap. 2pm BST: Blockchain has 'no immediate plans' to support Bitcoin Cash Blockchain, one of the biggest bitcoin wallet providers, has approached the BCC with caution, informing its clients that it has no “immediate plans” to support the BCC. In a Sunday news update, Blockchain’s Alsyon Margaret said that the company is preparing for the BCC developing into its own actual chain and market. She wrote: “In the event of two separate blockchains after August 1, 2017 we will support the longest chain.

COINDESK Bitcoin news: Bitcoin price graph from May 1 to August 1 2017

“As of today, we have no immediate plans to fully support the Bitcoin Cash fork within our main product. “But, if BCC develops into an actual chain and market, you will be able to use your recovery phrase to export your funds and use them on that chain, regardless of whether or not Blockchain chooses to support it."