Brief history of Bitcoin Cash
The new Bitcoin Cash coin appeared during a well-known conflict in the community of the original Bitcoin currency. In 2017, the positive trend of the digital asset market began and Bitcoin faced the problem of scalability of its own system. The cost of transactions became more and more expensive, and the speed of operations decreased significantly. To solve these problems, part of the Bitcoin community suggested improving the system's Protocol, as well as adding SegWit2x technology, which involves storing some information outside of the blockchain.
However, the largest mining pools and part of the development team insisted on an exclusive division — the hard fork of Bitcoin. But in the end, the community could not find a compromise and there was a split. On August 1, 2017, the digital market saw a new cryptocurrency based on the BTC blockchain, which was named Bitcoin Cash. The split occurred on the block 478558 Bitcoin. It had a common part of the blockchain until the hard fork, and all subsequent blocks were already formed into a new chain. Bitcoin Cash is called the most successful fork of bitcoin.
Bitcoin Cash community problem
Multi-millionaire Roger Ver plays an important role in the crypto community. He was one of the first to invest in Bitcoin and urged others to follow his example. He was so excited about the idea of digital money that he invested a lot of energy in their promotion: billboards about cryptocurrency, held meetings with investors, and even distributed bitcoins for free, so that people could experience all the advantages of cryptocurrency payments themselves. He is also the founder of one of the most popular bitcoin wallets Blockchain.info and trading platform Bitcoin.com.
During the split of the bitcoin community, Roger Ver smoothly moved to the Bitcoin Cash team. He launched a major PR company through the social networks Reddit and Twitter, claiming that the Bitcoin Cash cryptocurrency is a continuation of the evolution of bitcoin. Moreover, he inspired the crypto community that this is a real bitcoin, which was once created by the legendary Satoshi Nakamoto. The crypto community is still outraged by his action.
Main characteristics of Bitcoin Cash
- The key difference between the new cryptocurrency is the increased block size up to 8 megabytes. This innovation made it possible to process transactions several times faster, which solved the problem of queues.
- In other parameters, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash cryptocurrencies are identical — the same block code, SHA-256 algorithm, Proof of Work consensus, block formation in 10 minutes.
- The cost is formed only by market demand and supply, there is no binding to real assets.
- You can store bitcoins in your online wallet or on the exchange, as well as on your computer, smartphone, or hardware media.
- A limited number of Bitcoin Cash, the volume of which will not exceed 21 million.
- Openness of the system and publicity of transactions: Bitcoin Cash is not an anonymous currency, information about completed transactions can be viewed freely on the network using various blockchain browsers (for example, Blockchair.com, Blockchain.com and others).
How to get started with Bitcoin Cash
In order to start working with Bitcoin Cash, you need to have your own wallet. The choice of a particular wallet option depends entirely on your personal preferences in terms of security and convenience:
- Installing a desktop program on your computer.
https://bitcoin.com
https://www.exodus.io
https://bitpay.com - Using multi-currency wallets: Coinomi, Exodus, or Jaxx. The main advantage of these wallets is that they are convenient to use for other cryptocurrencies.
- Using hardware crypto wallets such as Ledger or Trezor. The main advantage of such wallets is security, because cryptocurrencies are stored on a device that works offline. Most wallets are free and easy to use. Their main functions are sending, receiving and storing funds, as well as searching for transactions and other operations. The easiest way to get Bitcoin Cash is to buy it. It is the most common and convenient. To do this, you need to register on the exchange or exchange another cryptocurrency for Bitcoin Cash.
The speed of the blockchain the Bitcoin Cash
Previously, with a block size of 8 megabytes, it took up to one hour to confirm the transfer. With an increased block of up to 32 megabytes, a transaction can be completed in 1-3 minutes. On average, the network processes up to 60 000 transfers daily.
There is one feature that can upset users — the instability of the output of Bitcoin Cash blocks. Compared to Bitcoin, it can hold blocks for up to 2 hours. Bitcoin also has a similar problem, but much less often.
The average time for a Bitcoin Cash block to appear is 10 minutes. You only need 2 confirmations of the Bitcoin Cash blockchain for the exchange. Therefore, Bitcoin Cash is not a fast currency.
Formats of Bitcoin Cash
There are 2 types of addresses:
- The P2PKH or Legacy address (outdated address format) — this is the first version of the Bitcoin address, which starts with the number "1" and has from 26 to 36 characters.
Example:1A1zP1eP5QGefi2DMPTfTL5SLmv7DivfNa - CashAddr – a new format of the Bitcoin Cash address, in which the characters in the address became 42 instead of 34. In addition, depending on the wallet used and the user's wishes, you can use an additional prefix that will indicate that this is the Bitcoin Cash address.
Example without a prefix:qztfskga5nqp97vuzufzhxyfky0nfa2kd5lwv5ecp6
Example with a prefix:bitcoincash:qztfskga5nqp97vuzufzhxyfky0nfa2kd5lwv5ecp6
Commissions in the Bitcoin Cash blockchain
Bitcoin Cash has a floating Commission. In each block, the transaction takes up a certain space. The Commission is calculated based on this weight. In the first half of 2019, the average Commission per transaction was $0.0055.
