Bitcoin Cash
A Bitcoin fork built for fast, cheap peer-to-peer electronic cash.
Overview
Bitcoin Cash emerged on August 1, 2017, as a hard fork of Bitcoin, driven by a long-running debate within the Bitcoin community about how to scale the network. Proponents of Bitcoin Cash argued that increasing the block size was the most straightforward way to allow more transactions per second and keep fees low, staying true to Satoshi Nakamoto's original vision of peer-to-peer electronic cash.
The primary technical difference is block size: Bitcoin Cash increased the block size limit from Bitcoin's 1 MB to 8 MB at launch, and later to 32 MB. This allows Bitcoin Cash to process significantly more transactions per block, resulting in lower fees and faster confirmations during peak usage. The network handles everyday payment-sized transactions for fractions of a cent in fees.
Bitcoin Cash maintains its own independent blockchain and development roadmap. It has introduced features like CashTokens for creating fungible and non-fungible tokens directly on its blockchain, and CashFusion for enhanced transaction privacy. While it shares Bitcoin's core architecture, it has diverged into a distinct project focused primarily on usability as everyday money.
Bitcoin Cash represents one of the most significant philosophical splits in cryptocurrency history — the debate between Bitcoin as a store of value versus Bitcoin as everyday money. By prioritizing low fees and fast on-chain transactions, BCH serves users in developing countries and underbanked populations who need inexpensive payment solutions, not a speculative asset.
How It Works
The Basics
Bitcoin Cash works almost identically to Bitcoin at a fundamental level — it uses Proof of Work mining with the SHA-256 algorithm, and transactions are grouped into blocks on a blockchain.
Pros & Cons
- Extremely low transaction fees — usually under $0.01 per transaction
- Faster on-chain confirmation times due to larger block sizes
- Strong focus on real-world payment utility and merchant adoption
- CashTokens protocol enables token creation directly on the BCH chain
- Shares Bitcoin's proven SHA-256 security model
- Significantly lower hash rate and network security compared to Bitcoin
- Smaller community and less institutional interest than Bitcoin
- Has undergone additional forks (BSV), fragmenting the community
- Larger blocks increase hardware requirements for running full nodes
Use Cases
- Low-cost everyday payments — buying coffee, groceries, and services
- Microtransactions and tipping on social media platforms
- Remittances to developing countries where bank fees are prohibitive
- Merchant point-of-sale payments with near-instant confirmation
- On-chain token creation using the CashTokens protocol
Technical Details
- Consensus
- Proof of Work (SHA-256)
- Launch Year
- 2017
- Founder
- Community fork (led by Roger Ver, Jihan Wu, and others)
- Max Supply
- 21,000,000 BCH
- Blockchain
- Bitcoin Cash
- Website
- bitcoincash.org