​BTC network has forked for the first time in 2,5 years

What’s new? Analyst Colin Wu, citing data from the Fork Monitor service, has reported that the Bitcoin network experienced a “fork with a length of 2” at block 788 686. In the chain of 13 transactions, 10 bitcoins (~$279 070) have been double spent. Researchers at crypto exchange BitMEX said that such splits in the first cryptocurrency’s network are “quite rare,” and the last one was in November 2020. They added, however, that “given the large recent increase in stale blocks, perhaps this was not unexpected.”

According to ForkMonitor, a chain fork with a length of 2 occurred at block height 788686 of the Bitcoin network. In the longest chain, 13 transactions involving nearly 10 BTC have been double spent. https://t.co/hqBwocihDR — Wu Blockchain (@WuBlockchain) May 8, 2023

What is the reason for the fork? According to Fork Monitor, at block height 788 686, several blocks were released at once, each of which subsequently began to be supported by subsequent blocks as they were produced, thus creating conflicting chains. The most long chain was retained as the main one, and the blocks not included in it became stale. In this, a 10 BTC transaction was processed twice as a result of the split of the chain, leading to repeated spending of funds.

What is going on with BTC? In April, Glassnode analysts reported an increase in the number of active addresses on the Bitcoin network and highlighted it among the indicators of the end of the bear crypto market. At the same time, an anonymous Bitcoin analyst found out that $60 million worth of bitcoins were withdrawn from exchanges between April 20 and 21. In his opinion, this could have a negative impact on the rate of the asset.

In addition, in April, transfers from bitcoin wallets that have been inactive for several years became more frequent. On April 20 analysts registered the transfer of 2071,5 BTC (about $60,7 million) from a, “sleeping” for 9 years. On April 21, an investor transferred 279 BTC (~ $7,8 million) to three new addresses, his wallet was inactive for 10 years.

On April 24, the wallet made the first transaction of 400 BTC (~$11 million) in 12 years. The last transaction was recorded on May 9, 2011, when the user bought 1000 bitcoins for $9000.