Bitcoin Cash, also known as BCH, is a proof-of-work (PoW) blockchain network, and a faster and cheaper alternative cryptocurrency than Bitcoin (BTC). Bitcoin cash works in the exact same way as Bitcoin on the technical level.

It has a hard cap of 21 million assets with a proof-of-work consensus algorithm. Its creation was accomplished by doing a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain network and the reason of doing so is simple: to solve Bitcoin’s long-standing issues.

As such, it boasts lower fees and operates faster than BTC due to having a larger block size.

The history behind Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash came into the crypto scene around 12 years after the first Bitcoin block (the genesis block) was mined. It aimed to be an answer to Bitcoin’s scalability and transaction speed issues.

It was created via a hard fork in block 478,558 of the Bitcoin blockchain. This means that there was a split in the network (which works basically as software update) and that specific block contains a fundamental protocol which invalidates all the blocks which came before it.

The fork was agreed upon by numerous developers and miners alike, as they foresaw that Bitcoin Cash would improve the overall environment by shortening transaction times, something which mainstream users value highly.

Some, however, stood against the hard fork, claiming Bitcoin Cash would have highly complex mining processes which could hurt miners who were lacking in computer power and, in turn, centralize power amongst those who could afford it.

Other arguments were that users who had Bitcoin at the time would receive the exact same amount in Bitcoin Cash, a standard procedure when hard forks are executed, but still seen as a cash grab.

Bitcoin Cash hard forks

Bitcoin Cash had its very own hard forks, resulting in the creation of BCHA (Bitcoin Cash ABC) and BSV (Bitcoin SV or Bitcoin Satoshi Vision). BCHA reinvests 8% of every block reward back into itself, a procedure with functions as its developers’ salary.