What is Bitcoin Cash (Bitcoin Cash) in simple words: history, course and how to buy

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2019-08-05 00:00:00:

Getting cryptocurrency for free for owning at least part of BTC seems like something fantastic for most investors. In this way, in August 2017, Bitcoin Cash was issued - a hard fork of the first cryptocurrency, the separation of which was carried out after a vote for the introduction of the SegWit2x protocol.

As a result, all BTC holders received the same amount of Bitcoin Cash on their wallets. On the very first day of trading, the price of BCH soared to $ 500 per coin, which made it possible to quickly get rich for everyone who bought bitcoins in advance.

The Bitcoin Cash fork is the largest and loudest in the history of digital currency. If most of the forced “forks” of the blockchain do not find wide support from the community, then in 2018 BCH even started trading on the exchange. To understand where the hard fork got so many fans from, lets look at what Bitcoin Cash is and take a closer look at the history of the cryptocurrency.

What is Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash is a payment system and cryptocurrency of the same name with the informal designation BCH, which appeared on August 1, 2017 as a fork of Bitcoin. Like its “big brother”, Bitcoin Cash is both a payment system and a means of payment. BCH coin is actively traded on cryptocurrency exchanges and is used as a measure of the value of many goods. Unlike the network of the first cryptocurrency, the block size in Bitcoin Cash is 32 MB. This partially solves the scalability problem, making cryptocurrency a worthy alternative to Bitcoin.

Fork (from English fork - fork) - the use of the software base of one cryptocurrency to form another, working on a new algorithm. Such an offshoot can exist in parallel with the main project or become the beginning of a radically new solution. There are two related concepts:

1. Soft fork (from the English soft - soft) - a branch of the main block chain , which does not require the creation of radically new software that conflicts with the old system. A soft fork does not create a new cryptocurrency, but improves the quality of the existing network and optimizes it. More often, the "soft" fork is positioned as an upgrade of the existing digital currency payment system.
2. Hard fork (from the English hard - soft) - a radical change in the algorithms and code base of the cryptocurrency. Leads to the creation of a new payment system through a fork of the old blockchain, since the old information about the blocks will conflict with the new software. A hard fork occurs when there is disagreement within the community, when there is no consensus about the upgrade of the payment system and the further future of the project.

Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork of the first cryptocurrency, as its creators did not support a protocol upgrade with a compromise solution to the scalability problem of SegWitx2. As a result, a new cryptocurrency was created based on the Bitcoin protocols. It works on the same principle and is a branch of the very first blockchain by Satoshi Nakamoto. At the same time, transactions in two different branches are not compatible with each other and are not recorded in a common block chain.

The reason for the emergence of Bitcoin Cash is the controversy in the crypto community. Although the majority of miners (up to 95%) agreed with the proposal to improve the cryptocurrency, part of the community remained unhappy. Users felt that the new protocol was introduced to delay the solution to the scalability problem. This allowed miners and investors not to lose money due to the fall in the price of BTC amid news of the update. The solution was a hard fork created by part of the Bitcoin development team and a former chief engineer at .

Today Bitcoin Cash is no longer a minority decision. They began to trust the new currency and appreciated the advantages of large blocks. The network is constantly updated and the development team is actively correcting the shortcomings of the Bitcoin network.

History of cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash

The Bitcoin Cash code is based on the protocol of the first cryptocurrency. Therefore, its history of Bitcoin Cash as a hard fork begins with a blockchain-based digital money creation coin. Blockchain is a distributed decentralized database made up of a continuous chain of blocks.

Each block has a pointer to the previous one and is linked to the next. Sometimes the chain splits: a new block appears parallel to the main branch, in which transactions are recorded. The longest branch is considered to be true, and it links to all previous blocks sequentially.

All this gives rise to the formation of a separate fork - an artificial fork of the chain, which will contain part of the past blockchain. At the same time, so that such an artificial branch does not become the shortest and illegitimate, software is created for it. It ignores the old branch that is related to the old project. This is how a hard fork happens.

In May 2017, the cryptocurrency boom came. Digital money was in high demand due to its investment attractiveness, and many speculators appeared on exchanges. As a result, a problem area was discovered in the Bitcoin network: the fixed block size of 1 MB could not fit enough transactions. As a result, a queue was formed, and users had to wait for the transfer of cryptocurrency up to 2 days. All this jeopardized the future of the first cryptocurrency (we wrote about the future of cryptocurrencies here ) and the status of an analogue of the world banking system.

To solve the problem, the community offered several solutions: a complete removal of the 1 MB limit, storing part of the information about transactions outside the blockchain without increasing the block, and a compromise approach. As a result, on July 20, 2017, the community voted for the third option called SegWitx2 (Segregated Witness). Some users considered that the decision made plays in favor of large miners and investors, and does not develop the Bitcoin payment system.

Dissenters under the leadership of Amory Séchet announced the rejection of SegWitx2. They wanted to leave the original structure of the blockchain without moving information outside the system, but increase the block size to 8 MB, bypassing the scalability problem. The hard fork was supposed to take place at block 478558. As a result, on August 1, 2017, two blocks # 478559 were created in the Bitcoin chain. The new fork of the first cryptocurrency was named Bitcoin Cash.

All members of the crypto community who have BTC on block number 478558 received the same amount of BCH to their wallet account. At the same time, each coin was worth about $ 500 on the cryptocurrency exchange - the most profitable hard fork in history. As early as December 2017, the price of Bitcoin Cash climbed to USD 4,000 per BCH unit, but quickly dropped to USD 2,000. At the peak of popularity, the market capitalization of the cryptocurrency (what it is, you can find out in this article ) reached the $ 70 billion mark.

Developers are constantly working to optimize digital currency protocols. So, on May 15, 2018, the network was updated, due to which the maximum block size increased to 32 MB. This did not help stop the fall in capitalization and the value of the cryptocurrency against the background of the general recession, but increased the investment attractiveness of the cryptocurrency in the future.

Today BCH is ranked 4th in the cryptocurrency rating in terms of capitalization and trading volume. As of August 2019, the price ranges from 300-400 USD per coin. Since April, due to the active growth of Bitcoin, the trading volume of the hard fork also began to increase. Today it averages about 83 billion rubles - an indicator of many reputable commercial banks from Russia.

The investment attractiveness of Bitcoin Cash is difficult to assess - the digital currency has not been on the cryptocurrency market for so long. The position in the overall ranking speaks of the communitys trust in BCH. Many enthusiasts believe that the hard fork is the most viable Bitcoin-based payment system. Some experts predict BCH to be the first position in the overall rating to replace Bitcoin due to its problems with the block size of transactions.

Distinctive features

Bitcoin Cash is different from most cryptocurrencies and their hard forks. Many development groups tried to make a high-quality fork of the first cryptocurrency, but single projects were in demand.

The team of the Bitcoin Cash system managed to make a full-fledged community out of 5% of dissidents, in no way inferior to coins from the top 20 in terms of market capitalization. Moreover, adequate solutions and the desire for decentralization brought cryptocurrency to the 4th place in the overall ranking of digital assets.

To understand why the new Bitcoin fork, which took place at the peak of the popularity of forks, turned out to be so in demand, we will describe the distinctive features of the project. For clarity, lets compare some positions with the Bitcoin Core network and other top projects:

1. Hard fork . Most of the current projects are inherently new protocols with their own concept. At the same time, up to 90% of payment systems operate on the basis of the Bitcoin blockchain, but use different algorithms, emission principles, and reward systems. Bitcoin Cash is a hard fork, the technical side of which is entirely based on Bitcoin. It uses the SHA-256 algorithm, Proof-of-Work protocol, and the same issue of 21 million coins.
2. Troubled period . Bitcoin Cash is not just a group of miners and developers who disagree with the cryptocurrency update policy. The fork appeared at a time when the network was experiencing serious problems with transaction times. The decision of the development team caught the attention of many users who felt the scalability problem for themselves.
3. Increased block size . A 1 MB transaction block is considered standard not only for Bitcoin, but also for other cryptocurrencies. This size is believed to impede successful DDoS attacks and system vulnerabilities in the early stages of the currencys popularity. But due to its small size, there are often large queues of those wishing to conduct a transaction. BCH increased the block size to 8 MB and later to 32 MB to make the system more optimized in the future.
4. Classic ideas about Bitcoin . In WhitePaper, Satoshi Nakamoto (the creator of Bitcoin) never had any information about placing a piece of information outside the blockchain. This jeopardizes the reliability and decentralization of the system. At the same time, the block size chosen by the creator could have been underestimated by him due to the lack of great demand for confidential electronic transfers in 2007. Thus, Bitcoin Cash becomes an improved prototype of the original BTC.
5. Development group . Unlike most digital currencies, Bitcoin Cash is developed by several independent development teams. According to experts, this further increases the decentralization of the system, but makes it difficult to reconcile ideas about the future of cryptocurrency.
6. System update procedure . It is believed that the BCH network will be updated every 6 months. Development teams are tweaking hashing algorithms to make the program more secure. It also allows you to make actual, vital changes to the project without having to vote.
7. The principle of changing complexity . Unlike BTC, in Bitcoin Cash, the difficulty of mining a block changes every 6 blocks. This makes mining with high power more resource-intensive, which protects the system from concentrating power in one hand. It also removes the over-pressure of ASIC farms on the cryptocurrency and its community. 

In addition, the Bitcoin Cash network implements an algorithm to protect against erasing transactions and double spending. This avoids adding Bitcoin blocks to BCH and vice versa. Also, in Bitcoin Cash, the user separately creates a signature for the hash of the transaction, which helps to avoid errors during the irreversible course of the transaction.

How BCH works

From the technical point of view, the algorithms of BCH work are no different from the similar structure of the Bitcoin system. With the exception of a few innovations in signature hashing and protection against duplication of transaction blocks, the cryptocurrency has the same structure. Perhaps that is why experts consider Bitcoin Cash to be a more thoughtful analogue of BTC. To understand how Bitcoin Cash works, it is necessary to describe how the blockchain works.

Blockchain is a continuous chain of blocks of transactions interconnected by links. Links are located in special places of allocated memory - block headers. Transaction is the process of transferring BCH from one user to another. With the help of electronic signatures, cryptographic algorithms and keys, coins are safely and irreversibly transferred from sender to recipient. Moreover, in transactions there is a pointer to the previous transaction for which the coins were received.

As in the Bitcoin system, other users are the guarantor of the legitimacy of the transaction. A copy of the blockchain is on the computer of each user registered in the Bitcoin Cash network. Thus, the transparency of transactions is achieved, which at the same time do not have a single cent and an issuer. To check transfers between users and confirm the legality of receiving coins, computing power is used according to the Proof-of-Work principle (from the English.proof of work done). Users with large capacities, or miners, calculate the hash sum, which contains data about the transaction and its "travel" along the blockchain. For spending personal power, the miner receives a reward in the form of BCH.

Due to the increased block size, it can accommodate more transactions than the Bitcoin network. This guarantees the stability of the system at high daily turnover rates. This completely eliminates the mempool - a collection of transfers in a payment system that are still awaiting confirmation. At the same time, the block is not solved by the miner too slowly due to its size, since the complexity of the calculations is adjusted every hour, and the block is calculated in 9-10 minutes. As a result, users receive cheap transactions that take a few seconds to complete.

To rank transactions in the queue, the principle of fees is used. They are also received by miners as a reward. At the same time, commissions are not burdensome for the user - the average rate is 0.0029 US dollars per transfer. Thus, a user can transfer a huge amount anywhere in the world by paying less than 1/3 of a cent for the transfer. This is a serious competitor not only for top cryptocurrencies, but also for the modern banking system.

Bitcoin Cash combines the best of Bitcoins sophistication and reliability with the speed of more up-to-date block building on a decentralized chain. If the problems of the original BTC are not resolved in the near future, it will be replaced by a more profitable and relevant BCH.

Bitcoin Cash advantages and disadvantages

Forking is not only a solution to a problem, but also a profitable business. It is not uncommon for developers to chase profit more than they want to solve the real problems of the existing system. In many cases, the rate of new cryptocurrencies after the hard fork jumps, which brings developers a solid income.

Although Bitcoin Cash is one of the most successful forks in this regard, today no one doubts the seriousness of this project. Ranking 4th in the ranking of cryptocurrencies in terms of capitalization according to CoinMarketCap, the digital currency has every chance of becoming the fastest and most reliable payment system on the blockchain meringue. The obvious advantages of cryptocurrency will play a role here:

1. Bitcoin network problem resolved . Unlike the first digital currency, BCH solved the scalability problem once and for all. The combination of frequent updating of mining difficulty and flexible block size makes it possible to execute transactions in seconds. In this case, the waiting time for confirmation, even in busy periods, is less than 2 minutes. For example, for Bitcoin, the time for confirming a transfer is 1-2 hours, and for the global SWIFT currency transfer system, it takes 10-15 minutes.
2. Scanty commissions . Commission plays a special role in the PoW system. The more important the payment and the faster it needs to be made, the higher the commission is indicated by the user. On particularly busy days on the Bitcoin network, the commission can reach $ 20-50 per transfer. Bitcoin Cash offers a healthy alternative - less than 1 cent per transaction between any users. At the same time, the transfer time between users wallets will be less than 2 minutes. This is a clear advantage of BCH over most cryptocurrencies.
3. No queue waiting for confirmation . It doesnt matter how many miners are involved in the process of calculating hash sums - the block processing speed will always remain the same. After tangible problems waiting for a transaction on the Bitcoin network in 2017, many users switched to BCH. Due to the lower cost of the coin, the absence of a mempool and lower volatility, it is more convenient to settle Bitcoin Cash than the first cryptocurrency. This digital asset is used by hundreds of crypto exchanges, online stores and online settlements.
4. Decentralized development . Since there are several independent groups involved in the development, it is more difficult for large players to influence the transformation of the cryptocurrency protocol. This also creates an additional degree of protection against attack 51, since the concentration of capacities in one person is monitored and warned by developers in time. At the same time, the initiators of the fork are ordinary users from the Bitcoin community. Each of them, in their own way, is interested in the decentralization of cryptocurrency.
5. System reliability . The first cryptocurrency is considered the most reliable blockchain project. It was created and developed by professional cryptographers, mathematicians and developers. On the basis of this system, Bitcoin Cash was created, which incorporates the best aspects of distributed computing and data storage technology. Additional security of the system is provided by a stable audience of the project.
6. Pseudonymity and signatures for the hash sum. The Bitcoin fork is pseudonymous - despite the open information about transactions, it is impossible to accurately track the addresses of senders and recipients. But in technical terms, Bitcoin Cash not only completely repeats BTC, but complements it and takes into account the negative aspects. To speed up the process of processing transactions and increase confidentiality and system reliability, the developers have additionally introduced the formation of a digital signature for each hash sum.
7. World perspective . It is not enough to simply use blockchain technology to compete with the worlds banking systems. Most people are used to paying with a lack of privacy and publicity for instant transfers between bank accounts. Bitcoin Cash offers a versatile alternative - blockchain-based system reliability and the speed of the most advanced bank transfers.

In addition to Bitcoin Cash fans, there are people who are skeptical about the project. Doubts about the future of cryptocurrency did not appear by chance - even high positions in the rating do not guarantee the reliability of digital systems. Basically, critics hold the following claims:

1. Lack of own developments . The Bitcoin Cash development team did not start their own project from scratch, but decided to use the Bitcoin protocol. Thus, the creators spent a minimum of effort and money to create a new cryptocurrency, but they made a lot of money. The lack of our own developments makes us think about the future of BCH in relation to other new projects.
2. Fraudulent scheme . Since its inception, BCH has been described by many critics as a scam. Indeed, immediately after the separation, the price of BCH settled in the region of 0.2-0.5 BTC, which instantly gave the development team about 5 billion market capitalization. That being said, many early Bitcoin investors, such as Roger Ver, decided to go over to the side of Bitcoin Cash, recognizing the future of Bitcoin.
3. Too big block problems . Satoshi Nakamoto has foreseen almost everything in a blockchain-based payment system. Even the block size of 1 MB was not chosen by chance - it avoids the problem of double spending and reduces the requirements for the computing power of miners. To avoid these shortcomings in BCH, the developers had to come up with an algorithm for signing hash sums.
4. Lack of complete confidentiality . Like most cryptocurrencies, BCH is not completely confidential, but only partially hides the user. In theory, the real identity of a person can be traced through open information about transactions. This jeopardizes the attractiveness of cryptocurrency for those who want a completely confidential payment system.

Does Bitcoin Cash mining exist?

Bitcoin Cash also works on a Proof-of-Work basis. This means that the computing power of computers of real people is used to confirm the transaction. It is spent on calculating the hash sum with the search for all previous information about receiving coins. The labor of miners is used to keep the system decentralized.

Mining (translated from English - mining) is the formation of a powerful computing computer based on a CPU or GPU to calculate hash sums. For the work done, the miner receives a fixed reward. Often such a computer combines more than 10 computing devices and is called a mining farm. This greatly increases the efficiency of mining the reward.

Like Bitcoin, the reward for solving a BCH block is 12.5 coins. Translated into dollars at the rate for 2019, the remuneration is 3-4 thousand dollars. But 12.5 coins go only to the miners with the highest power, who are more likely to solve the block. In order not to concentrate the new emission of BCH in one hand, the miners came up with the idea of joining in pools - communities of several miners, which are de jure considered one miner in the network.

For the extraction of cryptocurrency, the system uses the SHA-256 algorithm - the same as that of the first digital currency. This makes it possible to mine Bitcoin Cash on specialized processors - ASICs. They are designed to mine Bitcoin and all digital assets built on the SHA-256 algorithm.

Bitcoin Cash appeared in 2017, at the time of the development of ASIC technology. Many mining pools using similar equipment have simply switched their resources to mining BCH. As a result, Bitcoin Cash suffered an ASIC curse - mining on special processors quickly became too profitable, which excluded from the mining process small players who ensured decentralization. Thanks to this, the 51% attack became a very realistic scenario for BCH.

51% attack is a hypothesis according to which a miner with 51 percent of all the computing power of the network can take all the reward for the calculations into his own hands. At the same time, not one person, but a whole pool can stand behind such a "miner". In the early stages of BCH entering the market, such an attack was quite real. A similar problem exists with the Bitcoin network. 

Today, mining BCH, subject to the use of ASIC processors, is one of the most profitable. So, for 1 Thash / s, the miner will receive 0.25 USD per day. According to CoinMarketCap, the average payback of mining on new processors takes 150-280 days.

How to buy or sell Bitcoin Cash

Buying and exchanging BCH is as easy as buying Bitcoin. In order to place the purchased cryptocurrency somewhere, you need to open a wallet with a bitcoin address. The developers did not create their own wallet, but propose to use the developments of Bitcoin Core as the main storage system. This is convenient for both investors and miners - you can simultaneously store both the first cryptocurrency and its promising counterpart on the same wallet. 

If you decide not to waste energy on mining, you can buy BCH in three different ways: 

• purchase from individuals at LocalBitcoinCash.org;
• using popular cryptocurrency exchangers or ATMs;
• buying BCH on exchanges.

Each method has its own advantages and disadvantages. Most often, buying from hands is not recommended for beginners - scammers can trick you into transferring real money to them, and then they will not transfer BCH to your address. If you know how transactions and cryptocurrency wallets work, you can safely use the first purchase method. It will be more confidential and private.

The second method is considered the easiest and fastest when buying coins online from exchangers . These are BestChange services, Blockchain, etc. Please note that many exchangers are not responsible for digital currency, so it is worth taking seriously the issue of choosing a reliable partner.

In turn, our NiceChange exchanger allows you to buy BCH in the following popular directions: Sberbank - Bitcoin Cash (BCH) , Yandex Money - Bitcoin Cash (BCH) , Visa / MasterCard - Bitcoin Cash (BCH) , Qiwi RUB - Bitcoin Cash (BCH) , Bitcoin (BTC) - Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Ethereum (ETH) - Bitcoin Cash (BCH) .

As for the sale of Bitcoin Cash , users most often resort to the directions Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - Bitcoin (BTC) , Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - Sberbank , Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - Visa / MasterCard , Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - Qiwi RUB and Bitcoin Cash (BCH) - Yandex Money .

Another reliable way is to buy digital assets on exchanges. The Bitcoin Cash team advises purchasing BCH on Coinbase, Bittrex, Kraken, Bithump, and Godex. In the Russian-language segment, the Exmo exchange can be used for purchase. Working with the exchange has its drawbacks - a commission is charged from the user for exchanging Bitcoin Cash, and when buying a large amount of BCH, the client may be asked to provide personal data, including a scan of a passport and a bank statement.

We wrote a separate article about the difference in the work of exchangers and exchanges here .

Bitcoin Cash to RUB rate

The Russian investor and traders are primarily interested in the Bitcoin Cash exchange rate against the ruble . You can track the latest information on the CoinMarketCap website. The resource collects data from the largest cryptocurrency exchanges where BCH can be exchanged. Not every exchange allows you to buy or accepts Bitcoin Cash for payment - many companies consider the project a failure in advance and prefer the original Bitcoin.

As of August 2019, the Bitcoin Cash rate to the ruble is about 20,400 rubles per coin. So, it becomes much easier to buy BCH for a user from Russia than to give more than 600 thousand rubles for BTC. The peak value of the currency in rubles was 240,000 rubles as of December 2017. So, from the moment the cryptocurrency appeared until its peak, investors were able to get a return of 2000% in less than six months. This is a unique situation for a hard fork in the digital asset world.

Not every exchange can directly exchange rubles for BCH and vice versa. As a rule, to buy a fork of Bitcoin, you will first have to exchange the national currency for dollars or another cryptocurrency, and only after that exchange it for BCH. This creates certain difficulties for crypto enthusiasts from Russia.

To immediately exchange Bitcoin Cash for rubles and play on the races in the ruble exchange rate, use Russian-language exchanges. The most popular resource is EXMO, where you can track BCH / RUB quotes online. For purchases and transfers up to 30,000 rubles on the exchange, no verification or additional confirmation is required.

Bitcoin Cash to USD rate

If the exchange for rubles is considered something exotic for the cryptocurrency world, then US dollars play the role of the main measure for assessing the value of electronic money. All exchanges and exchangers, without exception, offer transfers in USD at the current rate and subsequent conversion into cryptocurrency. When storing funds in exchangers or trading, it is beneficial to always keep assets in foreign currency. So the user can withdraw them at any time or exchange them for another crypt.

The most relevant exchanges for exchanging dollars for BCH and vice versa are Coinbase and Bittrex. You can also track Bitcoin Cash against the dollar on the CoinMarketCap platform. Today, the cost of Bitcoin Cash fluctuates between $ 300-400 per piece. The highest figures were also in December 2017 - more than 4,000 USD per one coin.

In fact, rates to national currencies are presented only on local exchanges. All exchange in the main market takes place in USD, by which the value of all digital assets is estimated. Even fiat currencies such as Euro, Yen and Pound are used only for trading with a profitable mirror pair with other quotes.

Therefore, most of the other rates are simply converted against BCH / USD and vice versa. Thus, the Bitcoin Cash rate to the euro for 2019 is approximately 270 denominations of the European currency, which is proportional to the US dollar. Other meanings can only be found on small exchanges that do not enter the global cryptocurrency market.

Where to store Bitcoin Cash

As noted earlier, if you do not work on an exchange or do not want to trust assets to third parties, you will have to create a wallet to buy. BCh wallet uses the same address format and device as Bitcoin. Therefore, if you own an address in Bitcoin Core, then you do not need to start a new wallet. In this case, the address must be different, since the systems have different internal structure, cost and software.

To understand where to store Bitcoin Cash , check out bitcoincash.org, the official website of the development team. In the "Wallets" section, you can find information on the most reliable and convenient methods of storing BCH. There are 4 ways to choose from:

• cold storage hardware wallet;
• using a desktop program;
• storage on a mobile wallet;
• online services.

The choice of storage method depends entirely on your ideas about security and preferences regarding the use of cryptocurrency. If you plan to store digital money in the long term, for example for investment, then a hardware wallet is for you. Such a device is cut off from the Internet, and your BCH is stored on a physical medium with a pin code, which excludes the possibility of hacking or hacker theft.

The most universal option is to use a computer program. In this case, you will have to download Bictoin Core - the original software from the creators of the first cryptocurrency. Such a program will allow you to store the entire blockchain of a digital asset on your computer, making you an official member of the Bitcoin Cash network. There is a version with full block sizes, weighing 250-300 GB, and a "thin" wallet containing only block headers. The developers also recommend wallets like Yenom and Electron Cash.

If speed and constant access to cryptocurrency is important to you, or if you periodically pay for purchases with it, the easiest method is to use a mobile program. These are dedicated apps available for both Android and iOS. The programs allow you to quickly track the balance on your own phone, make transfers and control payments for your services. Suitable for both private use and business. Examples of the best applications that support Bitcoin Cash: Yenom, BRD, Jaxx, Edge, Copay, bitPay, etc.

The method for the laziest: using sites-services and browser programs to buy and store cryptocurrency. It is the most unreliable method and is therefore not recommended by Bitcoin Cash development teams. Such services are a third party that is not responsible (except for reputation) for the safety of your digital assets. For the same reason, most investors do not store cryptoassets on exchanges.

Bitcoin Cash emission

Emission is the process of issuing new BCH coins within the blockchain system. If cryptocurrency were a standalone project, the question of how much Bitcoin Cash would be relevant. But in this case, the size of the final number of coins is not a matter of controversy and discussion: like Bitcoin, the issue of Bitcoin Cash is 21 million pieces. Initially, about 15 million BCH was created as a result of the fork, as Bitcoin Cash completely copies the blockchain before forking.

Now the production of new coins takes place through their mining. The reward for solving a block of transactions is 12.5 new BCH. The block reward is decreasing in the same way as Bitcoin - every 4 years. Thus, by about 2035, the BCH emission will end.

Do not think that after the removal of the reward for solving the block, miners will lose interest in the cost of computing power. Commissions, which are guaranteed to be charged for the first confirmation of the transfer, will remain an important incentive. In the future, due to the increase in computing power and the increasing popularity of Bitcoin Cash, mining commissions will bring in no less money than the current mining of new blocks.

Along with Bitcoin, BCH is not for nothing called "digital gold" - after the completion of the emission in 2035, given the high popularity of digital currencies, the price of BCH can skyrocket. In this he will be helped by the possibility of dividing up to 10 to minus 8 degrees from the whole. Limited resources are always expensive.

What is secured by Bitcoin Cash

Like all proof-of-work cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Cash uses mining power to secure. While miners are mining cryptocurrency, they generate new blocks and confirm current transactions. This means that the peer-to-peer payment network is alive and well.

The more miners and capacities are involved in the process, the more profitable the system becomes - it more evenly distributes the income from the new issue, and decentralization increases. In this case, the absence of a single control center, as in a bank, is not a disadvantage, but an advantage of the currency. Each participant in transactions, each miner and developer by their existence maintains the operability of the project.

Another issue is pricing. The value of BCH is determined by the combination of supply and demand for digital currency in the respective markets. Demand in this case is the number of people who are willing to use Bitcoin Cash as a means of payment.

The difficulty of solving the block is adjusted every hour. Therefore, even if 10 miners remain on the network, transactions will continue. This helps to understand that in terms of pricing, the expended capacity does not play the most important role.

The future of Bitcoin Cash

There is no definite way to predict the future of Bitcoin Cash . Too many factors of successful development depend on humanity and the state of the world financial system. The possibility of hacker attacks or finding system vulnerabilities is not excluded.

Any blockchain-based payment network is always an alternative to modern bank payments. While the benefits of cryptocurrencies are undeniable, so far, society has not moved to confidential, secure and reliable transactions that cannot be faked or stopped. This is facilitated by both the global financial lobby and the too high threshold for entering new technology - people do not understand how the blockchain works.

With the development of digital literacy and the apparent failure of the bank transfer system, the popularity of Bitcoin Cash will also grow. The technical failure of modern financial transfers is obvious - people lose money due to hacks or due to internal technical failures. At the same time, cryptocurrency systems have never been hacked from the outside.

Another important question is whether Bitcoin Cash can replace Bitcoin, becoming the number one cryptocurrency. If the Bitcoin Core team does not solve the scalability problem, then soon users will start switching to a better alternative - BCH.

Differences between Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin

The main difference between Bitcoin Cash and the first cryptocurrency is that the developers of the latter have been introducing updates and improving the system for too long. Since the introduction of SegWit in 2 years, there hasnt been a single major new protocol. The developers are just trying to keep the system in the state in which Satoshi Nakamoto created it. Even the SegWit extension was only introduced when the market situation became critical.

The Bitcoin Cash team makes a decision instantly. At the same time, there are no general elections and other bureaucratic measures. Developers understand that dissenting people can always leave and create their own network. At the same time, the creators always listen to the opinion of users, and not only strive to satisfy the needs of miners.

Many crypto experts and early digital asset investors believe in Bitcoin Cash and see crypto as a replacement for the dying Bitcoin. It remains to observe the situation and invest in the most promising project.