Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency that was created as a result of a fork of the original Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain in August 2017. The fork was initiated by a group of developers who wanted to increase the block size limit of Bitcoin, which was previously capped at 1 megabyte (MB).
The main reason behind the creation of Bitcoin Cash was to address the scalability issues faced by Bitcoin, which were causing transaction fees to rise and confirmation times to increase. The Bitcoin Cash network increased the block size limit to 8 megabytes (MB), allowing for more transactions to be processed per block.
Bitcoin Cash also introduced some new features, such as:
- Larger block size: As mentioned earlier, Bitcoin Cash increased the block size limit from 1 MB to 8 MB, allowing for more transactions to be processed per block.
- Faster transaction processing: With a larger block size, Bitcoin Cash can process transactions faster than Bitcoin, which can help reduce transaction fees.
- Improved scalability: The increased block size and faster transaction processing enable Bitcoin Cash to handle a higher volume of transactions, making it more scalable than Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Cash has its own blockchain, separate from the Bitcoin blockchain, and its own cryptocurrency (BCH). It is often referred to as a “hard fork” of Bitcoin, meaning that it is a separate and distinct version of the cryptocurrency.
Bitcoin Cash has gained popularity among some users and merchants who value its faster transaction processing times and lower transaction fees compared to Bitcoin. However, it has also faced criticism and skepticism from some in the cryptocurrency community, who see it as a rival or competitor to Bitcoin rather than a complementary or alternative solution.
It’s worth noting that there are many other cryptocurrencies that have been created as forks or spin-offs of existing cryptocurrencies, and each has its own unique features and goals.
