Read this complete Bitcoin Cash Review to learn how this innovative blockchain platform works and creates value. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) originated from Bitcoin in 2017 when a portion of Bitcoin developers disagreed on how to move forward. Many consider Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to align more closely with the original vision of Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Cash provides a fast and secure way to make peer-to-peer financial transactions without involving any intermediary. It works almost the same way Bitcoin does (including its consensus mechanism and supply constraints). Using Bitcoin Cash you can send money to anyone, anywhere in the world 24/7, throughout the year. Like the Internet, the BCH network is always on. And, you don’t need any approval or permission to send/receive money using the Bitcoin Cash network.
So, what does BCH mean?, what is Bitcoin cash used for? and how is BCH different from BTC?. This Bitcoin Cash review answers all these questions and some more.
Bitcoin Cash is a blockchain platform originating from the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Cash took birth because of a hard fork on the Bitcoin network in 2017. A hard fork takes place when there is a radical change in a blockchain’s protocol resulting in two separate branches of the original blockchain.
You can imagine the Bitcoin Cash network as a different version of the original Bitcoin network. This is the reason Bitcoin Cash shares most of the characteristics of the Bitcoin blockchain except for the block size.
Bitcoin has a TPS (transactions per second) of only 7. This means the Bitcoin blockchain is capable of handling only 7 transactions every second. Therefore, the scalability of the Bitcoin blockchain remained a contending issue among the Bitcoin community for years. Some developers suggested increasing the Bitcoin block size (which is 1 MB) to allow transactions to proceed faster. However, not all developers agreed.
As a result, there was a hard fork on the Bitcoin blockchain and Bitcoin Cash was created as a separate blockchain with its own cryptocurrency BCH. Initially, the block size of Bitcoin Cash was increased to 8 MB which was further increased to 32 MB allowing over 100 transactions (compared to Bitcoin’s 7 transactions) to take place each second.
However, increasing the block size comes at a cost. Miners now need to devote less amount of mining resources to validate transactions on Bitcoin Cash. This means a compromise on security. In general, Bitcoin Cash is considered less secure compared to Bitcoin because of the larger block size.
Experts believe that Bitcoin, often considered digital gold, remains more suitable as a store of value while Bitcoin Cash is perfect as a medium of exchange for its low transaction costs. Note that Bitcoin Cash processes transactions much faster than Bitcoin and that too at a fraction of the cost. According to Daniel R. Hill, president of Hill Wealth Strategies in Virginia, “Bitcoin cash would be better for something like a cup of coffee, while a larger purchase, such as a car or house, may warrant a slower and more secure cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.”
Except for the block size, transaction processing speed, and costs, Bitcoin Cash is pretty much similar to the Bitcoin network. Just like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash is an open-source decentralized digital ledger running on the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Note that despite many similarities with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash exists as a unique blockchain, and BCH is a unique cryptocurrency. Today, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of the top 20 cryptocurrencies in terms of market valuation. Now, let’s look at the brief history of Bitcoin Cash.
If you are interested in other topics about investing in crypto, check out our website. For instance, you can read our comprehensive explanation of spot Bitcoin ETFs after you click on the link!
2. A short history of Bitcoin Cash
The idea of Bitcoin Cash came from within the Bitcoin community. In June 2017, a group of Bitcoin miners and developers came up with the proposal of Bitcoin ABC to increase Bitcoin’s block size and facilitate faster transactions. However, not everyone agreed to the proposed changes and no consensus could be arrived at.
Eventually, in August 2017, a hard fork on the Bitcoin network led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash as a separate blockchain and BCH as its native cryptocurrency. Note that over time many cryptocurrencies have originated using the idea of Bitcoin - however, Bitcoin Cash remains the most popular among them.
In May 2018, the block size of Bitcoin Cash increased from 8 MB to 32 MB. An eventual disagreement within the Bitcoin Cash community led to another hard fork within Bitcoin Cash resulting in two separate blockchains - Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV. In November 2020, a third hard fork happened which led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) and Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA). Bitcoin Cash Node went on to be called Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
3. Main features of Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash shares most features of Bitcoin such as peer-to-peer payment. Bitcoin cash helps you make/receive payments without involving any intermediaries like banks or payment processing companies like Visa. In line with the core promise of blockchain technology, Bitcoin Cash offers users greater control over their money. Moreover, Bitcoin Cash provides a safe and secure way to make payments , and if you want to know how to safely gamble with crypto too, then please read our related article.
So, how to use Bitcoin Cash? Fast processing speed and ultra-low transaction costs (in pennies) make Bitcoin Cash a perfect crypto to make small payments like paying for a coffee. Plus, Bitcoin Cash offers privacy and anonymity to the users.
Another key feature of Bitcoin Cash is its limited supply, which makes it a reliable medium of exchange. Just like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash has a maximum supply cap of 21 million Bitcoins. BCH’s supply cap helps address inflationary concerns of fiat currencies like the US dollar.
4. Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash - Key differences between Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
There is a raging BCH vs. BTC debate within the crypto community. Even though Bitcoin Cash originated from Bitcoin, they are two different blockchains. The primary difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash is the block size. Bitcoin has a block size of 1 MB from the beginning. Bitcoin Cash first had a block size of 8 MB which was later increased to 32 MB.
The higher block size helps in processing transactions faster in Bitcoin Cash compared to Bitcoin. Moreover, Bitcoin Cash has a lower transaction fee compared to Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin is the first and the most popular cryptocurrency. It’s also the most-valued cryptocurrency with a market valuation of over $1.2 trillion, compared to BCH’s valuation of only about $6 billion (as of February 2024). If you want to read more about Bitcoin and how it works, here is our detailed Bitcoin guide for beginners.
5. How to buy Bitcoin Cash?
The best way to buy Bitcoin Cash is from a leading crypto exchange. Register with a top crypto exchange, fulfill the KYC requirements, deposit fiat and you are ready to buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Many leading crypto exchanges, such as KuCoin with their KuCoin promo code for registration, allow buying Bitcoin Cash (BCH) using credit cards. Based on factors like ease of use, trading fees, safety and security, customer reviews, and technology, here are the top exchanges to buy BCH in 2024:
BTSE
Tapbit
KuCoin
ByBit
Bubinga
Discover the best crypto exchanges on the market!
BTSE
Bonus Crypto
Range of Earning Options, Trading Features and Prizes
Once you purchase Bitcoin Cash from any of these exchanges, you need to have a safe and secure crypto wallet to store your cryptos. There are different types of crypto wallets like hot and cold wallets, each involving different levels of risks and convenience.
6. Bitcoin Cash Review - FAQs
6.1 💵 Is Bitcoin Cash the same as Bitcoin?
No. Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are two different cryptocurrencies. However, they share many similarities, such as the proof of work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
6.2 🤔 What is the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin Cash has a much larger block size (32 MB) compared to Bitcoin (1 MB). This helps Bitcoin Cash process transactions faster and at a lower cost.
6.3 🫴 Is Bitcoin cash worth buying?
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of the top 20 most-valued cryptocurrencies. It can be a potentially great investment depending on the performance of the overall crypto market.
6.4 🪙 Is Bitcoin Cash a good investment in 2024?
As the global crypto market has been showing great strength since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin Cash can potentially offer good returns. However, effective risk management is crucial in crypto investing. This Bitcoin Cash review discusses the key features of Bitcoin Cash as well as how to Buy BCH.
Bitcoin Cash Review
Read this complete Bitcoin Cash Review to learn how this innovative blockchain platform works and creates value. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) originated from Bitcoin in 2017 when a portion of Bitcoin developers disagreed on how to move forward. Many consider Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to align more closely with the original vision of Satoshi Nakamoto, the enigmatic creator of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Cash provides a fast and secure way to make peer-to-peer financial transactions without involving any intermediary. It works almost the same way Bitcoin does (including its consensus mechanism and supply constraints). Using Bitcoin Cash you can send money to anyone, anywhere in the world 24/7, throughout the year. Like the Internet, the BCH network is always on. And, you don’t need any approval or permission to send/receive money using the Bitcoin Cash network.
So, what does BCH mean?, what is Bitcoin cash used for? and how is BCH different from BTC?. This Bitcoin Cash review answers all these questions and some more.
Contents
1. What is Bitcoin Cash? - BCH meaning
Bitcoin Cash is a blockchain platform originating from the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Cash took birth because of a hard fork on the Bitcoin network in 2017. A hard fork takes place when there is a radical change in a blockchain’s protocol resulting in two separate branches of the original blockchain.
You can imagine the Bitcoin Cash network as a different version of the original Bitcoin network. This is the reason Bitcoin Cash shares most of the characteristics of the Bitcoin blockchain except for the block size.
Bitcoin has a TPS (transactions per second) of only 7. This means the Bitcoin blockchain is capable of handling only 7 transactions every second. Therefore, the scalability of the Bitcoin blockchain remained a contending issue among the Bitcoin community for years. Some developers suggested increasing the Bitcoin block size (which is 1 MB) to allow transactions to proceed faster. However, not all developers agreed.
As a result, there was a hard fork on the Bitcoin blockchain and Bitcoin Cash was created as a separate blockchain with its own cryptocurrency BCH. Initially, the block size of Bitcoin Cash was increased to 8 MB which was further increased to 32 MB allowing over 100 transactions (compared to Bitcoin’s 7 transactions) to take place each second.
However, increasing the block size comes at a cost. Miners now need to devote less amount of mining resources to validate transactions on Bitcoin Cash. This means a compromise on security. In general, Bitcoin Cash is considered less secure compared to Bitcoin because of the larger block size.
Experts believe that Bitcoin, often considered digital gold, remains more suitable as a store of value while Bitcoin Cash is perfect as a medium of exchange for its low transaction costs. Note that Bitcoin Cash processes transactions much faster than Bitcoin and that too at a fraction of the cost. According to Daniel R. Hill, president of Hill Wealth Strategies in Virginia, “Bitcoin cash would be better for something like a cup of coffee, while a larger purchase, such as a car or house, may warrant a slower and more secure cryptocurrency like Bitcoin.”
Except for the block size, transaction processing speed, and costs, Bitcoin Cash is pretty much similar to the Bitcoin network. Just like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash is an open-source decentralized digital ledger running on the proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Note that despite many similarities with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash exists as a unique blockchain, and BCH is a unique cryptocurrency. Today, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of the top 20 cryptocurrencies in terms of market valuation. Now, let’s look at the brief history of Bitcoin Cash.
If you are interested in other topics about investing in crypto, check out our website. For instance, you can read our comprehensive explanation of spot Bitcoin ETFs after you click on the link!
2. A short history of Bitcoin Cash
The idea of Bitcoin Cash came from within the Bitcoin community. In June 2017, a group of Bitcoin miners and developers came up with the proposal of Bitcoin ABC to increase Bitcoin’s block size and facilitate faster transactions. However, not everyone agreed to the proposed changes and no consensus could be arrived at.
Eventually, in August 2017, a hard fork on the Bitcoin network led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash as a separate blockchain and BCH as its native cryptocurrency. Note that over time many cryptocurrencies have originated using the idea of Bitcoin - however, Bitcoin Cash remains the most popular among them.
In May 2018, the block size of Bitcoin Cash increased from 8 MB to 32 MB. An eventual disagreement within the Bitcoin Cash community led to another hard fork within Bitcoin Cash resulting in two separate blockchains - Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV. In November 2020, a third hard fork happened which led to the creation of Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) and Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA). Bitcoin Cash Node went on to be called Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
3. Main features of Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash shares most features of Bitcoin such as peer-to-peer payment. Bitcoin cash helps you make/receive payments without involving any intermediaries like banks or payment processing companies like Visa. In line with the core promise of blockchain technology, Bitcoin Cash offers users greater control over their money. Moreover, Bitcoin Cash provides a safe and secure way to make payments , and if you want to know how to safely gamble with crypto too, then please read our related article.
So, how to use Bitcoin Cash? Fast processing speed and ultra-low transaction costs (in pennies) make Bitcoin Cash a perfect crypto to make small payments like paying for a coffee. Plus, Bitcoin Cash offers privacy and anonymity to the users.
Another key feature of Bitcoin Cash is its limited supply, which makes it a reliable medium of exchange. Just like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash has a maximum supply cap of 21 million Bitcoins. BCH’s supply cap helps address inflationary concerns of fiat currencies like the US dollar.
4. Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash - Key differences between Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
There is a raging BCH vs. BTC debate within the crypto community. Even though Bitcoin Cash originated from Bitcoin, they are two different blockchains. The primary difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash is the block size. Bitcoin has a block size of 1 MB from the beginning. Bitcoin Cash first had a block size of 8 MB which was later increased to 32 MB.
The higher block size helps in processing transactions faster in Bitcoin Cash compared to Bitcoin. Moreover, Bitcoin Cash has a lower transaction fee compared to Bitcoin. However, Bitcoin is the first and the most popular cryptocurrency. It’s also the most-valued cryptocurrency with a market valuation of over $1.2 trillion, compared to BCH’s valuation of only about $6 billion (as of February 2024). If you want to read more about Bitcoin and how it works, here is our detailed Bitcoin guide for beginners.
5. How to buy Bitcoin Cash?
The best way to buy Bitcoin Cash is from a leading crypto exchange. Register with a top crypto exchange, fulfill the KYC requirements, deposit fiat and you are ready to buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
Many leading crypto exchanges, such as KuCoin with their KuCoin promo code for registration, allow buying Bitcoin Cash (BCH) using credit cards. Based on factors like ease of use, trading fees, safety and security, customer reviews, and technology, here are the top exchanges to buy BCH in 2024:
Discover the best crypto exchanges on the market!
Once you purchase Bitcoin Cash from any of these exchanges, you need to have a safe and secure crypto wallet to store your cryptos. There are different types of crypto wallets like hot and cold wallets, each involving different levels of risks and convenience.
6. Bitcoin Cash Review - FAQs
6.1 💵 Is Bitcoin Cash the same as Bitcoin?
No. Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) are two different cryptocurrencies. However, they share many similarities, such as the proof of work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
6.2 🤔 What is the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin Cash has a much larger block size (32 MB) compared to Bitcoin (1 MB). This helps Bitcoin Cash process transactions faster and at a lower cost.
6.3 🫴 Is Bitcoin cash worth buying?
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is one of the top 20 most-valued cryptocurrencies. It can be a potentially great investment depending on the performance of the overall crypto market.
6.4 🪙 Is Bitcoin Cash a good investment in 2024?
As the global crypto market has been showing great strength since the beginning of the year, Bitcoin Cash can potentially offer good returns. However, effective risk management is crucial in crypto investing. This Bitcoin Cash review discusses the key features of Bitcoin Cash as well as how to Buy BCH.