Bitcoin Cash (BCH) surged as much as 30% following CME Group's announcement that it will launch Bitcoin Cash futures on Oct. 19, pending regulatory review.
The rally occurred while Bitcoin ($BTC) pulled back toward $84,000 after touching a seven-month high near $87,250 earlier in the week. Traders rotated into Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV (BSV), two forks that split from Bitcoin's main chain years ago, resulting in some of their sharpest gains in months.
CME Group stated that standard contracts will represent 250 BCH, with micro versions covering 25 BCH. Giovanni Vicioso, CME's global head of cryptocurrency products, said the contracts provide institutions with "broader, regulated tools to navigate evolving digital asset related price risk." This makes Bitcoin Cash the exchange's tenth single-asset crypto contract, with Uniswap listed as the eleventh.
Grayscale also filed to convert its Bitcoin Cash Trust into a spot ETF for NYSE Arca listing, adding an institutional-adoption angle to the move. The combined news pushed BCH's weekly gain past 50%, with the token tearing through $340 and briefly touching $358 before cooling into Wednesday's session.
Bitcoin SV, which split from Bitcoin Cash in a dispute known as the "Hash War," gained roughly 20% alongside BCH. BSV extended its climb toward $21, an annual high. Open interest in BSV derivatives climbed alongside the price, indicating traders were adding fresh positions rather than just covering shorts.
Bitcoin Cash originally split from Bitcoin in August 2017 over a block size dispute, aiming for cheaper and faster payments. Bitcoin SV followed just over a year later when a faction led by Craig Wright pushed for even bigger blocks. Both networks have traded at a fraction of Bitcoin's price and volume since their splits.
Spot Bitcoin ETFs pulled in $715 million on Tuesday, a solid inflow day even as the coin's own price stalled. Analysts note that Bitcoin's forks tend to outrun the original coin in short, sharp bursts before giving gains back, with shorter market capitalizations making prices easier to affect and increasing volatility.