Blockchain factional disputes lead to hard forks, sparking new projects. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) emerged from a coalition of developers, investors, entrepreneurs, and miners dissatisfied with Bitcoin’s development roadmap. Launched on August 1, 2017, BCH is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system designed to enhance blockchain scalability and reduce transaction fees. Initially dubbed Bitcoin ABC (Adjustable Blocksize Cap), it aimed to address Bitcoin’s growing pains.
The Genesis of Bitcoin Cash
By 2017, Bitcoin faced criticism for prolonged transaction confirmation times and rising fees, straying from its original vision of near-instant, low-cost payments. The creation of BCH followed heated debates within the Bitcoin community over increasing the block size limit—a change requiring broad consensus due to Bitcoin’s decentralized nature.
Unlike Bitcoin’s Segregated Witness (SegWit) upgrade—a soft fork planned before BCH’s hard fork—BCH proponents viewed larger blocks as superior to SegWit for scaling. Notable backers included Jihan Wu (co-founder of Bitmain) and Roger Ver (CEO of Bitcoin.com).
Key Features of Bitcoin Cash
1. Technical Similarities to Bitcoin
- Forked directly from Bitcoin’s source code.
- Uses Proof of Work (PoW) consensus.
- Fixed supply of 21 million coins.
- 10-minute target block time.
- Halving every 210,000 blocks (~4 years).
2. Divergences from Bitcoin
- Larger blocks: 32 MB limit (vs. Bitcoin’s 1 MB).
- Dynamic Difficulty Adjustment (DAA): Updates mining difficulty per block (Bitcoin adjusts every 2016 blocks).
- No SegWit: Implemented Schnorr Signatures in 2019 for enhanced privacy/scalability.
👉 Discover how BCH’s scalability compares to other cryptos
Use Cases and Adoption
BCH is marketed as a daily-use currency due to:
- Faster transactions.
- Lower fees (ideal for micro-payments).
However, adoption remains niche. While platforms like Bitcoin.com list thousands of BCH-accepting merchants, many don’t actively promote it. Wallets like Bitcoin.com Wallet and Coinomi support BCH storage across major OS.
Critical Reminder: BTC and BCH operate on separate networks—sending coins to the wrong address results in permanent loss.
The Bitcoin SV Fork
In 2018, BCH underwent another contentious hard fork, creating Bitcoin SV (BSV) with a 2 GB block limit. Backed by Craig Wright (who falsely claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto), BSV gained minimal traction post-"Hash War."
FAQs
1. Is Bitcoin Cash better than Bitcoin?
BCH offers cheaper/faster transactions but sacrifices Bitcoin’s security dominance and liquidity.
2. Can I mine Bitcoin Cash?
Yes, using PoW—but profitability depends on market conditions and mining hardware.
3. What happened to Bitcoin ABC?
It rebranded as eCash (XEC) in 2021, shifting to a PoS model.
👉 Explore BCH’s latest developments
Conclusion
Bitcoin Cash remains a relevant fork with tangible use cases, though overshadowed by Bitcoin’s popularity. Its focus on scalability and low fees positions it as a practical payment solution—yet wider adoption hinges on merchant acceptance and network security improvements.
For now, Bitcoin continues to lead as the de facto cryptocurrency standard, while BCH carves its niche in the altcoin ecosystem.