The Bitcoin Mercantile Exchange (BitMEX) just revealed that they intend to sell all their users’ Bitcoin Cash (BCH) holdings, and will reimburse the users in BTC instead. The exchange, based in Hong Kong, cited their disapproval of Bitcoin’s many hard forks as one of the reasons supporting their decision. BitMEX is a popular cryptocurrency exchange service which tailors to BTC/USD trades. They are arguably most popular for their sophisticated futures system. The exchange revealed their decision earlier this week and stated that, considering that BCH was created under the auspices of a controversial fork, the platform refuses to support the cryptocurrency. Any user who received any BCH from the 1st of August will be unable to transfer their BCH holdings on BitMEX to their wallets.
According to the company’s statement, they situated themselves as being vehemently opposed to the way in which the BCH fork occurred. The fork’s lack of notice to relevant exchanges, and lack of preparation, made BitMEX conclude that the fork was dangerous to both individual users and businesses.
BitMEX has a somewhat troubled history when it comes to hard forks in the Bitcoin network. While they have now spoken out against BCH, they also made their opposition known against the Segwit2X fork, which has since been canceled. However, when the SegWit2x fork was still impending, BitMEX made it clear that they did not intend to add support for the new Bitcoin SegWit2X fork. The support would be unavailable for trading the currency as well as airdropped currencies to their users.
However, even BitMEX could not deny that despite their opposition regarding forks, BCH is still valuable, even more so in the three months following the fork. Therefore, the exchange has opted to sell user's BCH on their behalf, and credit the user with the proceeds from the sale. Other trading platforms, such as LocalBitcoins, conducted a similar operation this past September.
Despite its retracted support for BCH, Bitcoin Cash futures will still be active on its derivatives exchange. This features will also users to speculate on the cryptocurrency’s future price, and bet on it, without actually having to hold the cryptocurrency.
BitMEX’s intention of mass selloff could have a huge impact on the BCH price, especially considering that BitMEX currently holds the number one spot internationally for daily cryptocurrency trading volumes. More often than not, daily volumes are seen bypassing $1 billion. The exchange's huge international influence and mass dump of BCH are likely to cause the price to spiral. This is especially disheartening considering BCH's latest growth.
Unfortunately for BCH, other platforms intend to implement similar policies. The firm, Grayscale Investments, recently confirmed that they will also sell all their Bitcoin Investment Trust's BCH holdings. Currently, the Trust is estimated to hold $1 billion in assets, which is distributed to its shareholders by a dividend. Other notable platforms include Coinbase, who has still not provided a withdrawal function for BCH on its platform.
According to the company’s statement, they situated themselves as being vehemently opposed to the way in which the BCH fork occurred. The fork’s lack of notice to relevant exchanges, and lack of preparation, made BitMEX conclude that the fork was dangerous to both individual users and businesses.
BitMEX has a somewhat troubled history when it comes to hard forks in the Bitcoin network. While they have now spoken out against BCH, they also made their opposition known against the Segwit2X fork, which has since been canceled. However, when the SegWit2x fork was still impending, BitMEX made it clear that they did not intend to add support for the new Bitcoin SegWit2X fork. The support would be unavailable for trading the currency as well as airdropped currencies to their users.
However, even BitMEX could not deny that despite their opposition regarding forks, BCH is still valuable, even more so in the three months following the fork. Therefore, the exchange has opted to sell user's BCH on their behalf, and credit the user with the proceeds from the sale. Other trading platforms, such as LocalBitcoins, conducted a similar operation this past September.
Despite its retracted support for BCH, Bitcoin Cash futures will still be active on its derivatives exchange. This features will also users to speculate on the cryptocurrency’s future price, and bet on it, without actually having to hold the cryptocurrency.
BitMEX’s intention of mass selloff could have a huge impact on the BCH price, especially considering that BitMEX currently holds the number one spot internationally for daily cryptocurrency trading volumes. More often than not, daily volumes are seen bypassing $1 billion. The exchange's huge international influence and mass dump of BCH are likely to cause the price to spiral. This is especially disheartening considering BCH's latest growth.
Unfortunately for BCH, other platforms intend to implement similar policies. The firm, Grayscale Investments, recently confirmed that they will also sell all their Bitcoin Investment Trust's BCH holdings. Currently, the Trust is estimated to hold $1 billion in assets, which is distributed to its shareholders by a dividend. Other notable platforms include Coinbase, who has still not provided a withdrawal function for BCH on its platform.