Bitcoin Cash Just Mined its First Block, Making Blockchain Split Official

An effort to create an alternative version of the bitcoin blockchain is officially moving ahead.

After running into roadblocks this morning, miners were able to successfully create a block on a new blockchain, called Bitcoin Cash, at roughly 2:14 p.m. ET today. The move effectively finds the miners breaking away from the main bitcoin network and forging ahead with a different technical roadmap.

The block in question was mined by mining firm ViaBTC, according to a Bitcoin Cash block explorer hosted by data provider BlockDozer. ViaBTC later acknowledged the finding on Twitter and WeChat.

All in all, the event came nearly six hours after block 478,558 – the point at which miners attempted to start the separation.

Network data shows that the Bitcoin Cash block contained 6,985 transactions, with a block size of 1.915 MB – nearly double the size of this parameter on the original chain. The data point is notable given that Bitcoin Cash was designed to increase network capacity by offering a blockchain with a larger block size.

According to CoinMarketCap, the price of Bitcoin Cash is trading at roughly $219 on digital currency exchange Kraken. The exchange's top marketplace, for the BTC/BCH trading pair, is reporting more than $3m in volume since launch.

Disclosure: CoinDesk is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group, which has an ownership stake in Kraken. 

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