The cryptocurrency market is reeling from one of the most divisive hard forks in its short history. On November 15, Bitcoin Cash — itself a 2017 breakaway from Bitcoin — fractured into two competing chains: BCH ABC and BCH SV. Three days later, the so-called “hash war” shows no signs of resolution, and the broader market is paying the price.
TL;DR
- Bitcoin Cash split into BCH ABC and BCH SV after a contentious November 15 hard fork
- ABC is backed by Bitmain co-founder Jihan Wu; SV is championed by Craig Wright and CoinGeek
- Neither side implemented replay protection, putting user funds at risk
- BCH SV is losing the hash war, with ABC maintaining a higher hashrate
- The conflict contributed to a sharp sell-off across the broader crypto market
Two Visions, One Blockchain
The roots of the split lie in fundamentally different visions for Bitcoin Cash’s future. BCH ABC, which stands for Adjustable Blocksize Cap, wants to maintain the current 32 MB block size while introducing new opcodes that would allow the blockchain to interact with external data. It is widely seen as the continuation of the original BCH protocol and is supported by Bitmain, the world’s largest cryptocurrency mining equipment manufacturer.
BCH SV, short for Satoshi’s Vision, takes a more purist approach. Backed by CoinGeek — one of the largest BCH mining pools — and driven by Craig Wright, SV aims to increase the block size to 128 MB and re-enable certain opcodes from the original Bitcoin whitepaper that were previously disabled over security concerns. SV also proposes removing the cap on the number of script instructions that can be executed in a single transaction.
A Fight to the Death
What makes this fork particularly unusual is the openly hostile rhetoric from both camps. Craig Wright declared on social media that he would engage in “continuous competition until one dies as we do not stop.” Jihan Wu, Bitmain’s co-founder, responded with equal ferocity: “I have no intention to start a hash war with Craig Wright, because if I do… BTC price will dump below yearly support… But since Craig Wright is relentless, I am all in to fight till death!”
By November 18, on-chain data from Coin.dance showed BCH ABC maintaining a meaningful advantage in accumulated proof of work, suggesting that SV was losing the technical battle despite its aggressive posture.
No Replay Protection, Real Consequences
Perhaps the most concerning aspect of the fork for ordinary users is the complete absence of replay protection. Because both chains claim to be the legitimate successor to Bitcoin Cash, neither side was willing to implement safeguards that would prevent transactions from being duplicated across both networks. This means any transaction valid on one chain is also valid on the other — creating the potential for replay attacks that could drain funds unintentionally.
Third-party solutions have emerged, including tools from major exchanges, but the lack of native protection at the protocol level has added a layer of uncertainty for anyone holding BCH.
Market Fallout
The timing could hardly be worse. Bitcoin was already trading near its lowest levels of the year at roughly $5,600, and the hash war has amplified bearish sentiment across the board. Ethereum sat at approximately $177, and the total cryptocurrency market cap has shed billions in the weeks leading up to and following the fork. Analysts have pointed to the Bitcoin Cash conflict as a key catalyst for the broader downturn, as uncertainty around hash rate redistribution and miner economics spooked investors already on edge.
Why This Matters
The Bitcoin Cash hash war is more than an intra-community squabble — it is a stress test for how decentralized networks resolve existential governance disputes. When billion-dollar interests collide and both sides would rather burn resources than compromise, the entire ecosystem feels the heat. For traders and investors, it is a reminder that technical risk and political risk are inseparable in crypto. The outcome of this war — whether ABC prevails definitively, or SV continues siphoning hash rate — will shape how future disputes are handled across every major blockchain.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency markets are highly volatile. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
abc winning the hash war but sv refusing to give up. craig wright kept threatening to destroy abc chain for months after. dude was relentless
sv hashrate dropped to like 10% of abc and craig still claimed victory. the copium was astronomical
craig_btfo craig threatened to crash BTC price with his hashpower for months after SV lost. man literally never accepted defeat
craig claiming victory at 10% hashrate is the most on-brand craig wright thing ever. the man has never met a reality he couldnt deny
no replay protection on either chain was the most irresponsible part. users could lose funds on both networks from a single tx and neither team cared
imagine if they spent those millions on actual adoption instead of burning it on hash power. bch could have had a real use case by now
Tomasz K. exactly. all that hash power and money could have built actual merchant adoption infrastructure. instead we got two chains nobody uses for payments
I mined BCH during the fork and switched to BTC within a week because the profitability oscillations were insane. Thank goodness I didn’t stay.
BCH had a real use case as p2p cash. instead jihan and craig turned it into a vanity project
tomasz is spot on. BCH had first mover advantage as peer to peer cash and they squandered it on governance drama. now litecoin and even BTC LN handle that use case better
fork_the_rest exactly. BCH had first mover advantage as peer-to-peer cash and they squandered it on ego battles. Now even BTC Lightning handles that use case better.
Imagine if they spent that $25M on actual merchant adoption instead of burning electricity on hash power. BCH could have had real use cases by now.
i was mining BCH during the fork. switched to BTC within a week because the profitability oscillations were insane. craig kept threatening to crash BTC too, never happened
hashpit_ the profitability oscillations were insane. i was switching pools every few hours trying to keep up
watching two billionaires burn millions on hash power to settle an ego dispute was peak crypto dysfunction
Lena F. two billionaires burning millions on hashrate to settle an ego dispute. meanwhile BTC just kept building and won. says everything about priorities
Lena F. two billionaires burning 25M in electricity to settle an ego dispute while BCH holders watched their bags bleed. crypto in a nutshell
Lena F. peak crypto dysfunction is the perfect description. two billionaires fighting over a chain that neither of them actually used for anything
Diep T. two billionaires fighting over a chain nobody uses for payments anymore. BCH volume is a rounding error now
they burned an estimated $15M+ in electricity between both sides. jihan and craig treating hashrate like a pissing contest while BCH holders watched their bags bleed
hash_refugee $15M in electricity is conservative. add opportunity cost of not mining BTC during that period and its closer to $25-30M burned
Crag SV burned $15M+ in electricity fighting ABC over a chain that neither side actually uses for payments. Peak crypto dysfunction right there.
no replay protection on either chain. users could accidentally send the same transaction on both networks and lose funds. absolute chaos during the fork
fork_watcher no replay protection was the scariest part. i split my BCH using a tool from reddit and still felt like i was defusing a bomb