While everyone was watching bitcoin cash, the fifth largest cryptocurrency exploded

Bitcoin cash prices rocketed over the weekend.So too did Dash coin.The fifth largest cryptocurrency almost doubled in value.Bitcoin had a wild weekend, as prices for bitcoin (BTC) got smoked while bitcoin cash (BCH) rocketed higher.The weekend price action saw bitcoin cash hit a record high above $US2,600 a coinafter trading around $US300 in recent monthsas the battle over bitcoins transactional capability continues to rage.A short time ago, it had almost halved to around $US1,300, while Bitcoin remains more than $US1,000 below its levels above $US7,000 prior to the weekend.Meanwhile, among the other major cryptocurrencies (measured by market capitalisation), investors have swung sharply into Dash coin today.This monthly chart shows the scale of the move. After trading in a narrow range around $US300, a short time ago it had almost doubled to an all-time high:The Dash network operates on a two-tier platform, split between miners and network nodes which approve new transactions.To create an incentive system for nodes to help the network run smoothly, the value of each new block on the blockchain is attributed equally45% to miners and 45% to the master node. The remaining 10% goes into a joint pool of funds held by the network.Last week, one of the platforms developers announced a network update which will increase the transaction size for each block to 2 megabytes (MB).Thats the size which bitcoin developers just rejected, electing to maintain a capped size of 1MB, while BCH has an 8MB capacity.The weekend price action reveals the prevailing stand-off among bitcoin developers around what the cryptocurrency stands for and how it should be usedwhether its a store of value (like gold), or a faster, trustworthy and more convenient means of exchange.Dash CEO Ryan Taylor has previously indicated he sees the cryptocurrency as more of the latteran improved technology which allows for faster payments.Either way, while the technology around the major cryptocurrencies continues to develop, its likely to remain as an asset class for the braveoffering the potential for big returns along with high volatility.Join the conversation about this storyNOW WATCH: What it's like to fly on North Korea's one-star airline
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