Bitcoin Cash (BCH) experienced a 6% increase in price as it approaches a mainnet upgrade that will allow developers to issue tokens on the network and implement other enhancements.
Bitcoin Cash’s hard fork is scheduled for about noon UTC on Monday. A hard fork is an upgrade that any blockchain network can undergo. The May hard fork of Bitcoin Cash is designed to enhance the fledgling network’s security and privacy, with developers planning to introduce “CashTokens” that will enable decentralized applications directly on Bitcoin Cash.
Developers have already confirmed other proposed improvements, such as smaller transaction sizes, which will reduce transaction times, and smart contract functionality. Smart contracts will enable the creation of Bitcoin Cash-based applications that offer recurring payments, derivatives trading, crowdfunding opportunities, and other uses for Bitcoin Cash users.
Binance has already issued a statement claiming the support for the BCH hard fork scheduled for the 15th of May.
This development follows the increasing interest in tokens issued on Bitcoin, particularly the recently launched ‘Bitcoin Request for Comment’ (BRC20) tokens.
These standards enable developers to issue tokens and DeFi applications directly on Bitcoin, which has sparked a wave of digital artwork and meme tokens built on Bitcoin in recent weeks.
Over 11,000 tokens issued on Bitcoin are currently traded publicly, according to OrdSpace, which tracks BRC-20 data. These tokens currently have a $500 million market cap combined, down from $1.15 billion earlier this week.
