Alleged “Original” Bitcoin Token Rallies 24% As Crypto Markets Crash

Bitcoin Satoshi’s Vision (BSV), a variant of Bitcoin that claims to follow the creator’s original vision, has blazed past a market crash in the past 24 hours.

BSV is up over 23% at $55.79, ducking a 6% decline in markets in the past two sessions. By comparison, Bitcoin (BTC) has slumped 11% in the past 24 hours, and lost nearly a quarter of its value since late-Sunday.

BSV was born out of a Bitcoin Cash hard fork in 2018, which itself was a hard fork from the original Bitcoin chain. The name- Satoshi’s Vision- comes from the belief of its backers that the Bitcoin creator wanted to keep transaction fees extremely low on the chain.

One of BSV’s biggest backers, Craig Wright, claims to be Satoshi Nakamoto. But Wright has to date been unable to conclusively prove his claims.

BSV’s website claims the token is the “Original Bitcoin,” and ascribes more closely to the Bitcoin whitepaper.

Why is Bitcoin SV pumping amid a market crash?

The token’s recent, market beating gains appear to have been triggered by its recent listing in Japan. Huobi Japan is set to begin supporting the token from Wednesday, exposing it to the highly lucrative Japanese crypto market.

The prospect of fresh trading interest could be boosting the token, given that Japan has a fairly large crypto exposed population.

While BSV has fallen out of the public spotlight since its launch four years ago, the token has a thriving community. It is also the 43rd largest cryptocurrency by market capital, at $1.08 billion.

But while the token is outperforming today, BSV has still lost more value than Bitcoin this year. It is trading down 56%, while its older peer has lost about 51%.

Crypto markets in freefall

BSV’s outperformance as crypto markets experience one of their worst capitulations in recent history.

Fears of a Federal Reserve rate hike this week, especially after a high inflation reading last week, have severely dented sentiment in the market.

Focus is now on whether Bitcoin prices will drop enough to margin call some major holders– an event that could be devastating for markets.