Author: Arushi Garg
Bitcoin Cash (BCH), a peer-to-peer electronic cash system forked from Bitcoin in 2017 and designed for faster, lower-fee everyday transactions, traded at $359.00 after falling 13.6% over the past 24 hours, according to CoinGecko. The decline followed a post-upgrade sell-the-news correction after the Layla hard fork activation on May 15, alongside broader crypto market weakness and elevated derivatives liquidations.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial advice.
Bitcoin Cash did not announce a new project-specific catalyst on May 18. Instead, the decline appears tied to a post-upgrade correction after the Layla hard fork activated on May 15, combined with broader crypto market pressure and derivatives-driven selling. According to CoinGecko, BCH dropped to $359.00 after trading between $358.99 and $415.45 during the past 24 hours.
The Layla upgrade introduced bounded loops, reusable functions, expanded CashVM functionality, and broader programmability features for the network, according to ecosystem posts cited by BitcoinFoundation.org. Traders, however, appeared to lock in gains after the upgrade went live, creating a classic sell-the-news setup. [INTERNAL LINK: Bitcoin Cash Layla hard fork explained]
Derivatives activity also added pressure to the move. CoinGlass reported roughly $7.85 million in liquidations tied to BCH derivatives activity over the past day, while open interest remained elevated above $534 million. The broader crypto market also traded lower during the session, amplifying volatility in lower-liquidity large-cap altcoins such as BCH.
Bitcoin Cash recorded $407.88 million in 24-hour trading volume, according to CoinGecko, sharply above the roughly $230 million to $314 million daily range seen during the previous week based on Yahoo Finance historical data. CoinGlass showed perpetual futures open interest between $534.08 million and $560.83 million, marking a 1.25% increase over 24 hours despite the price decline. Funding rates remained slightly positive at approximately +0.01%, signaling a modest long bias across major exchanges. No notable BCH whale transfers surfaced during the past 24 hours, according to Arkham Intelligence and Lookonchain searches. DefiLlama data showed Bitcoin Cash ecosystem TVL at $7.92 million, down 2.35% over the same period, indicating the move remained primarily trading-driven rather than DeFi-led.
Market commentary around BCH remained limited despite the sharp decline. @BitcoinCashOG (@BitcoinCashOG, 15.7K followers) said the May upgrade unlocked “real programmability” for Bitcoin Cash and highlighted the expansion of CashVM functionality following the Layla activation.
Broader sentiment, however, leaned cautious. CoinGlass data showed approximately $7.85 million in BCH-related liquidations during the past 24 hours, reflecting aggressive forced selling across derivatives markets rather than sustained spot demand. No additional verified commentary from prominent analysts with more than 50,000 followers appeared in top BCH discussions during the period reviewed.
The contrarian view came from @thedefivillain (@thedefivillain), who described BCH as another “sell the news trade” after the hard fork upgrade.
According to TradingView and CoinGecko chart data, Bitcoin Cash faces immediate historical resistance between $400 and $415, which marked the upper end of the May 18 trading range and a prior consolidation area. Key historical support sits near $321, based on recent TradingView chart analysis. Above current resistance, the next major historical level stands near $450, based on May 2026 trading activity referenced by MEXC market data.
The 14-day RSI currently sits at 41, according to TradingView-linked technical summaries, placing BCH in neutral-to-oversold territory after the latest decline. TradingView data also showed BCH trading below key longer-term moving averages, reflecting a neutral-to-bearish technical structure.
This is not financial advice. Always do your own research before making investment decisions.
Bitcoin Cash developers continue to focus on post-Layla ecosystem expansion, including CashTokens, CashScript, and broader decentralized application development following the May 15 upgrade. No additional hard fork dates, governance votes, or token unlock events have been publicly scheduled for the next four to eight weeks because BCH operates as a mined asset with a fixed 21 million supply cap.
Broader crypto market sentiment and Bitcoin price action remain the primary external drivers for BCH. The main downside risks include continued post-upgrade profit-taking, relatively low liquidity compared with larger crypto assets, and the history of sharp pullbacks following major Bitcoin Cash protocol events.
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