Fork Watch: Block 478558 Initiates 'Bitcoin Cash' Split – First Blocks Now Mined

The start of the Bitcoin ABC (Bitcoin Cash) chain split has begun as the divide was initiated on August 1 at 12:37 p.m. UTC at block height 478558.

UPDATE (18:45 GMT): Two blocks have been mined on the new Bitcoin Cash blockchain.

Also read: Indian Bitcoin Hotspot Bangalore Sees 50+ Merchants Added This Month

Bitcoin Cash Veers Off at Block Height 478558

Over the past week, the central theme of discussion has been the August 1 hard fork and the possible birth of a new token called ‘Bitcoin Cash’ (BCC). The fork has come about after months of long debates, scaling proposals, and community infighting and many bitcoin proponents from both sides are showing a sense of relief although some are still uncertain of the events that will take place, and how the bifurcation of the Bitcoin blockchain will play out.

Today a whole lot of people have been patiently waiting for the user-activated hard fork (UAHF) to commence and the coming of the new digital currency Bitcoin Cash. August 1 has arrived and the 12:20 UTC time period has officially passed. The start of the BCC chain split began at block 478558, but at the time of writing the official divide has not yet occurred.

Now the fork didn’t happen at exactly 12:20 UTC but took place six blocks later. There are a few places where bitcoin proponents can follow the behind the scenes action and watch for BCC blocks to be found at data collection sites like Coin Dance, Blockchair, and BTCforkmonitor. Further, there is a live stream “fork party” called Countdown to Bitcoin Cash with over 1400 viewers at press time. And of course, the Reddit forums r/btc, r/bitcoin, and Twitter are filled with discussions concerning today’s events.

BTC and BCC Markets

Yesterday bitcoin markets were very active, and bulls managed to push the price up to $2929 just twelve hours before the possible fork. Now the price is down 8 percent to a low of $2700 as people sit and wait for the fork’s outcome to commence. Many traders believe the BTC price spike is currently valued with the BCC token’s value priced into it, but market predictions are very speculative. At the moment BCC futures are trading at 0.15 BTC or US$400 after seeing a decline in value over the past week. The San Francisco -based bitcoin exchange Kraken has announced it would begin crediting Bitcoin Cash shortly and trading has begun on the platform. Bitcoin Cash prices on Kraken are similar to Viabtc’s futures at the time of writing.

At the moment bitcoin proponents are glued to their screens waiting for the next course of action regarding the August 1 split. Block 478558 was the last common block found and the next event will be the first Bitcoin Cash big block found which could take some time depending on hashrate.

UPDATE: The original title of this post first only indicated that the first Bitcoin Cash block had been mined, but that wasn’t entirely accurate (fork happened, but the first Bitcoin Cash block (nr 478559) was mined at 2:14 pm EDT, not immediately). The post has since been updated.

How are you watching today’s events? Let us know in the comments below.

Images via Shutterstock, BTC Fork Monitor, Bitstamp, and Twitter.

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