Bitcoin Cash ( BCH ) Price Live Chart

What is Bitcoin Cash (BCH)?

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) operates as a blockchain network and cryptocurrency using a proof-of-work system. It boasts faster and more economical transactions compared to Bitcoin (BTC). This asset came into existence via a hard fork from the Bitcoin network and has since established its own community. Similar to its predecessor, Bitcoin Cash is accepted at specific merchants, accessible for purchase on PayPal, and provides an alternative means of exchanging value.

Initially designed to address persistent issues with Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash sparked controversy within the crypto community due to its proposed solution. Despite the potential for both to coexist, there remains ongoing debate about which will emerge as the dominant asset in the future.

What is the history behind Bitcoin Cash Mining?

The genesis block of Bitcoin was mined on January 3, 2009, marking the beginning of its widespread recognition. However, Bitcoin encountered challenges such as scalability issues and lengthy transaction times. Bitcoin Cash emerged as a solution to these issues.

In 2017, the concept of Bitcoin Cash was conceived to alleviate Bitcoin’s transaction speed concerns. Essentially a hard fork from the Bitcoin blockchain, Bitcoin Cash resulted in the network splitting into two at block 478,558. This block introduced a pivotal protocol change invalidating prior blocks, necessitating nodes to transition to the new chain to continue its usage.

This marked a significant software update leading the previous network, Bitcoin, in a separate direction from the new Bitcoin Cash fork.

The fork was a decision made by miners and developers within the Bitcoin network aiming to overcome its limitations. While some saw Bitcoin as intended for digital transactions rather than solely a store of value, the lengthy transaction times and high fees hindered its mainstream adoption. However, dissenters opposed the hard fork for various reasons, including concerns about Bitcoin Cash's larger blocks leading to centralization among powerful miners.

The hard fork also resulted in holders receiving an equal amount of Bitcoin Cash, prompting claims of a "get-rich-quick" scheme. Notable Bitcoin Cash advocate Roger Ver, known as "Bitcoin Jesus" among enthusiasts, has heavily supported Bitcoin Cash, highlighting its usability and technological improvements over Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Cash and its Forks

Bitcoin Cash eventually underwent its own forks: Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA) and Bitcoin SV (BSV). BCHA mirrors the original Bitcoin Cash with minor differences, reinvesting block rewards into network innovation. BSV, or Bitcoin Satoshi Vision, aims for stability through larger block sizes than Bitcoin Cash and proposes increasing blocks without a cap until network strain prompts a vote on a potential size limit.

Dr. Craig Wright, an Australian scientist, spearheads the BSV movement and claims to be Bitcoin’s pseudonymous founder, Satoshi Nakamoto. Despite skepticism within the crypto community, the Bitcoin Cash network achieved notable milestones, recording over 9,000 transactions per second and processing 16.4 million transactions in a single block on its scaling testnet in early 2021.

What is the working mechanism of Bitcoin Cash?

Technically akin to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash operates with a hard cap of 21 million assets, utilising nodes and a PoW consensus algorithm. However, Bitcoin Cash distinguishes itself by offering faster transactions and lower fees due to larger block sizes. This makes it more suitable for smaller transactions, such as purchasing items using cryptocurrency.

Moreover, Bitcoin Cash supports smart contracts and applications like CashShuffle and CashFusion. CashShuffle mixes Bitcoin Cash with other holders before transactions, enhancing privacy. Conversely, CashFusion combines BCH transactions with other users' funds, aiming to obscure transaction paths. Both applications contribute to the Bitcoin Cash ecosystem, facilitating privacy and enhancing accessibility.

What is the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash?

Bitcoin Cash supports 25,000 transactions per block compared to Bitcoin's 1,000 to 1,500. This increased block size garnered support for Bitcoin Cash, propelling it to be a top 20 cryptocurrency. While Bitcoin was developing SegWit as a solution, Bitcoin Cash's hard fork aimed to address transaction processing issues.

Despite Bitcoin Cash's significant rise in price, it hasn't reached Bitcoin's value peaks. The larger block sizes and faster validation of Bitcoin Cash make it favorable for smaller transactions and everyday use cases, unlike Bitcoin's primary role as a store of value.

However, Bitcoin Cash faces challenges. Its name can be confusing to new users, and it lacks market dominance and trading pairs compared to Bitcoin. Despite this, BCH's price tends to follow Bitcoin's movements indirectly due to market dynamics and its standing among leading cryptocurrencies.

What are the Use Cases of Bitcoin Cash?

1. Peer-to-Peer Transactions: Like Bitcoin, BCH was designed for peer-to-peer transactions without the need for intermediaries like banks. It aims to facilitate fast and low-cost transactions, making it suitable for everyday payments.

2. Remittances and Cross-Border Transactions: Bitcoin Cash's lower fees and faster transaction times can make it an attractive option for remittances and international money transfers, enabling individuals to send funds across borders more efficiently compared to traditional banking systems.

3. Tokenization and Smart Contracts: Similar to Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash has the capability to enable tokenization and smart contracts on its blockchain through various protocols and platforms built on top of it. This can facilitate the creation of tokens representing assets, digital collectibles, or decentralised applications (dApps).

4. Hedging and Investment: Some individuals view Bitcoin Cash as a potential investment opportunity, diversifying their crypto portfolios or utilising it as a hedge against other cryptocurrencies due to its differences in development philosophy and technical features compared to Bitcoin.

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