Bitcoin Surges Past $4,000 as Speed Breakthrough to Fuel Spread

Bitcoin soared past $4,000 for the first time on growing optimism faster transaction times will hasten the spread of the cryptocurrency, according to Bloomberg.

The largest digital tender jumped to a peak of $4,125.17 on Monday, a gain of 15 percent since Friday, after a plan to quicken trade execution by moving some data off the main network was activated last week. The solution, termed SegWit2x, had been so contentious that a new version of the asset called Bitcoin Cash was spun off earlier this month in opposition.

Because of a cap on the amount of data processed by bitcoin’s blockchain, transactions started to slow as its popularity boomed. The community was then divided between the SegWit2x solution backed by a group of developers and another supported by miners that sought a larger increase in the block size. The latter then became Bitcoin Cash, whose price has retreated since peaking right after its birth. It has neither disrupted its progenitor’s operations nor undercut its appeal.

While SegWit2x has garnered enough support for activation, challenges remain. Its next stage involves doubling the block size to 2 megabytes some time in November, a possibility that’s still mired in debate. Reduced support could thwart this step, with some arguing that Bitcoin Cash, with a block size of 8 megabytes, has obviated the need for another “hard fork“ to upgrade the bitcoin again.

The cryptocurrency’s staggering price surge has bolstered related businesses. Digital currency exchange Coinbase announced it’s received a $100 million investment. The supply of bitcoin is capped at 21 million, compared with 16.5 million that had been mined as of Saturday, according to blockchain.info.