Bitcoin Cash price tops $500 as BCH developers release software upgrade

The Bitcoin Cash rally has reignited, pushing the cryptocurrency’s price to a four-day high of over $500 in today’s trading. Earlier today the cryptocurrency reached $510.03, but it has since retreated to lower levels. It is currently trading around $490, some $50 higher than its yesterday close.

With gains of over 11%, according to Coinmarketcap, BCH has been by far the best-performing top 10 cryptocurrency over the past 24 hours, in a market that has seen most major altcoins declining. In terms of performance, the token has overshadowed even Bitcoin’s record-breaking run.

Hard fork optimism

While in the previous two trading sessions Bitcoin Cash had to endure a hefty price correction from its October 29 high of $526, the Bitcoin offshoot managed to hold above $400 and eventually stabilised around the $440-$450 area.

Today’s rally might be partly driven by the release of a software upgrade to the Bitcoin Cash protocol. The new software, which was released today by developers behind BCH’s most popular client, Bitcoin ABC, seeks to improve the way mining difficulty is adjusted on the network. The change will be implemented by a hard fork on November 13.

In today’s trading, the Bitcoin Cash price stood at $488.14, as of 14:32 GMT. The cryptocurrency has gained just over 11% over the past 24 hours, which has allowed it to overtake Ripple (XRP) as the third most valuable digital coin on the market. Its total market capitalisation currently stands at nearly $8.2 billion, data from Conmarketcap shows.