The cryptocurrency market closed out one of its most devastating months in recent memory, with Bitcoin losing 37% of its value in November alone and erasing approximately $70 billion from the total cryptocurrency market capitalization. As December 1 arrived, Bitcoin was trading around $4,214 — a staggering 70% decline from the beginning of 2018 and roughly 80% below its all-time high near $20,000 reached just one year prior. Ethereum wasn’t spared either, hovering near $118, down from its peak of over $1,400.
But beyond the sheer price destruction that defined November 2018, the month’s most dramatic storyline was the Bitcoin Cash “hash war” — a bitter, costly conflict that captivated the crypto community and underscored the growing pains of a maturing industry.
TL;DR
- Bitcoin fell 37% in November 2018, closing near $3,878 on November 30 before recovering slightly above $4,000
- The Bitcoin Cash network split into two competing chains on November 15: BCH ABC and Bitcoin SV
- The “hash war” officially ended around December 1 when CoinGeek announced support for a permanent split
- Miners on both BCH chains reportedly lost millions of dollars in a weeks-long hash power race
- The broader crypto market cap fell below $130 billion, with major altcoins suffering double-digit losses
The Bitcoin Cash Split: How It Started
On November 15, Bitcoin Cash — itself a 2017 fork of the original Bitcoin blockchain — underwent a hard fork that split the network into two competing chains. The two factions represented fundamentally different visions for the protocol’s future.
Bitcoin Cash ABC, backed by developer group Bitcoin ABC and prominent supporters including Roger Ver of Bitcoin.com, sought to optimize the protocol with new features and technical improvements. The opposing faction, Bitcoin SV (Satoshi’s Vision), led by nChain chief scientist Craig Steven Wright and backed by mining magnate Calvin Ayre through CoinGeek, advocated for a return to Bitcoin’s original design principles. Their most significant proposed change was increasing the block size cap to 128 megabytes — a dramatic escalation from Bitcoin Cash’s already enlarged blocks.
The Threat of a 51% Attack
What set this fork apart from previous cryptocurrency splits was the unprecedented hostility between the camps. Wright publicly threatened that Bitcoin SV miners would execute a 51% attack against the Bitcoin Cash ABC chain, effectively attempting to destroy the competing network. This wasn’t mere rhetoric — both sides deployed extraordinary amounts of hash power to secure their respective chains, with miners reportedly burning through millions of dollars in a costly “hash power race.”
However, the threatened attack never materialized. Bitcoin Cash ABC proponents brought in additional hash power and the development team implemented protective checkpoints, effectively neutralizing the 51% attack vector. By late November, it became clear that the endurance strategy was unsustainable.
The Official End of Hostilities
By December 1, CoinGeek — the mining operation owned by Calvin Ayre and the largest Bitcoin SV mining pool — published a press release announcing support for a permanent split. Given CoinGeek’s central role in the Bitcoin SV ecosystem, this declaration was widely interpreted as the official end of the hash war.
In a significant concession, Bitcoin SV’s technical director Steve Shadders committed to implementing replay protection, a technical safeguard ensuring that users wouldn’t accidentally spend coins on both chains. Ayre also acknowledged he would abandon the “Bitcoin Cash” name and “BCH” ticker in favor of “Bitcoin SV” and “BSV.”
At the time, Bitcoin SV was trading between $75 and $100, while Bitcoin Cash ABC retained the higher valuation. The two coins would now compete independently in the open market, as all cryptocurrencies do — a far less dramatic conclusion than many had anticipated.
Blood in the Water: November’s Broader Carnage
The hash war was a distraction from, and arguably a contributor to, the broader market collapse. Bitcoin’s total market capitalization fell below $100 billion for the first time since October 2017, with the price dropping from above $6,300 at the start of November to a low of $3,878.66 on November 30.
The altcoin market was devastated across the board. Bitcoin Cash was among the worst performers, losing nearly 60% of its value during November as the hash war unfolded. Ethereum, the second-largest cryptocurrency by most metrics, had fallen to around $118 — a decline of more than 90% from its January 2018 high. XRP briefly overtook Ethereum for the number two spot by market cap, trading at $0.37.
The Regulatory Cloud Darkens
Adding to the market’s troubles, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission had announced settled charges against two non-compliant ICOs on November 16 — just one day after the Bitcoin Cash fork. The enforcement action signaled that regulators were serious about cracking down on token sales that violated securities laws. According to Pantera Capital’s December investor letter, approximately 25% of their ICO Fund’s capital was invested in projects that had sold tokens to U.S. investors without proper exemptions.
The regulatory pressure, combined with the hash war spectacle and the broader sell-off, created a perfect storm of negative sentiment. Major tech platforms including Facebook, Google, and Twitter had already banned cryptocurrency and ICO advertisements earlier in the year, cutting off a key marketing channel for new projects.
Why This Matters
The Bitcoin Cash hash war of November 2018 was more than a petty dispute between rival factions — it was a stress test for decentralized governance and a cautionary tale about the real costs of blockchain conflicts. Miners burned through millions of dollars in a conflict that ultimately ended in an unspectacular permanent split, proving that threats of hostile takeovers in proof-of-work systems are easier to make than to execute.
The timing couldn’t have been worse. The broader market was already in freefall, and the hash war’s spectacle undermined confidence in the crypto space at precisely the moment it needed stability. For investors watching from the sidelines, it reinforced a painful lesson: in crypto, technical governance disputes have real financial consequences. December 2018 would ultimately prove to be the trough of the bear market — but nobody knew that at the time.
Disclaimer: This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice. Cryptocurrency investments carry significant risk. Always conduct your own research before making investment decisions.
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