This Week In Cryptocurrency: Bitcoin Cash Soars, Square's Bitcoin Trading Revenue

The cryptocurrency market finished a string week on a low note on Friday, with most major currencies trading down on the day.

Here’s a look at some of the headlines that were moving the cryptocurrency market this week and which currencies were on the move.

Headlines

Bitcoin Cash gained 23 percent on the week ahead of its upcoming hard fork expected to take place Nov. 15. Bitcoin Cash is the latest cryptocurrency to book large gains ahead of hard forks, splits in cryptocurrencies that happen when a blockchain is split into two paths that require software upgrades to follow the new path. A new currency is created following a hard fork, and owners of the original currency typically receive one coin of new currency for one coin of old currency.

On Wednesday, digital payment company Square Inc SQ reported $43 million in bitcoin trading revenue in the third quarter. Square began offering bitcoin trading on its Cash App back in January.

On Thursday, JPMorgan analyst Sterling Auty said Akamai Technologies, Inc. AKAM, Docusign Inc DOCU and Ellie Mae Inc ELLI are three ways for investors to play the emergence of blockchain technology outside the realm of cryptocurrencies. Auty said at this point investors have limited options for investing in blockchain technology other than buying cryptocurrencies.

Price Action

The Bitcoin Investment Trust GBTC traded at $7.18, up 5.1 percent for the week.

Here’s how several top crypto investments fared this week. Prices are as of 3:30 p.m. ET and reflect the previous seven days.

• Bitcoin gained 0.6 percent to $6,411;
• Ethereum gained 4.9 percent to $210;
• XRP gainned 9.6 percent to 50 cents;
• Bitcoin Cash gained 22.4 percent to $563;
• Stellar gained 11.7 percent to 25 cents.

The three cryptocurrencies with at least $1-million market caps that have made the biggest gains over the past seven days are:

• Skeincoin: $1.0-million market cap, 196.1-percent gain.
• Peerplays: $7.7-million market cap, 170.3-percent gain.
• BOScoin: $52.5-million market cap, 105-percent gain.

The three cryptocurrencies hit hardest in the past seven days were:

• Gravity: $3.7-million market cap, 82.4-percent decline.
• NewYorkCoin: $3-million market cap, 60.7-percent decline.
• Project Coin: $1.1-million market cap, 50.5-percent decline.

Related Links:

Coinbase's $8B Valuation, Bitcoin's 10-Year Anniversary

Bitcoin Cash Fork Drives Crypto Volatility