What Is Bitcoin Cash?

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency that originated as a hard fork of Bitcoin on August 1, 2017. The fork resulted from a longstanding debate within the Bitcoin community about how to scale the network to handle more transactions. Proponents of larger blocks, including early Bitcoin investor Roger Ver and several mining pool operators, advocated for increasing the block size as the primary scaling solution. Bitcoin's core development community, meanwhile, pursued the SegWit upgrade and Layer 2 solutions like the Lightning Network, viewing on-chain scaling as insufficient on its own.

Overview - Table of Contents
What Is Bitcoin Cash?
Getting Started With Bitcoin Cash
How To Get A Bitcoin Cash Wallet?
Bitcoin Cash Resources
How To Buy Bitcoin Cash?
Latest Bitcoin Cash News

The split was contentious. At its core was a disagreement about whether Bitcoin should prioritize on-chain transaction capacity or pursue a layered architecture. When the fork activated at block 478,559, anyone holding Bitcoin automatically received an equivalent amount of BCH on the new chain. The new network included replay protection to prevent transactions on one chain from being accidentally replayed on the other, though users still needed to take care when managing private keys that now controlled balances on both networks.

Bitcoin Cash initially increased the block size limit from Bitcoin's 1 MB to 8 MB. At the time, Bitcoin processed roughly 250,000 transactions per day; BCH supporters estimated the larger blocks could support up to 2 million daily transactions. The block size was later raised to 32 MB. BCH proponents argue this approach better serves the original vision of Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, prioritizing fast and cheap everyday transactions with fees typically well under one cent.

Like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash uses Proof of Work consensus with the SHA-256 hashing algorithm, meaning the same mining hardware (ASICs) can mine either chain. BCH implemented an adjusted difficulty algorithm (DAA) that recalculates mining difficulty after each block, allowing the network to maintain consistent block times even with fluctuating hash rates. This was necessary because BCH and Bitcoin share the same mining algorithm, and miners can switch between the two chains based on profitability. The total supply is capped at 21 million BCH, and the block reward follows the same halving schedule as Bitcoin.

The name itself became a point of contention. Some opponents referred to the project as "Bcash" on social media to differentiate it from Bitcoin, while supporters insisted on the full name "Bitcoin Cash." This naming dispute reflected the broader philosophical divide in the community about which chain better represented the original Bitcoin vision.

Bitcoin Cash itself experienced further forks. In November 2018, a disagreement between factions led by Bitcoin ABC (supporting the BCH roadmap) and Bitcoin SV (led by Craig Wright and backed by Calvin Ayre, advocating for even larger blocks) resulted in a chain split. Bitcoin SV (Satoshi's Vision) split off to pursue 128 MB and eventually unbounded block sizes, while Bitcoin Cash continued under the BCH ticker with Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) eventually becoming the dominant full node implementation after a 2020 disagreement with Bitcoin ABC over a developer funding proposal.

Bitcoin Cash has seen its own ecosystem develop over the years. The CashTokens upgrade enabled fungible and non-fungible tokens to be created directly on the BCH blockchain without requiring a separate smart contract layer. The CashAddr address format was introduced to distinguish BCH addresses from Bitcoin addresses, preventing users from accidentally sending funds to the wrong network. Developer libraries are available in multiple languages, including Python (pybitcointools), Java (bitcoinj), JavaScript (bitcoinjs-lib, BitGo's bcashjs-lib), C# (NBitcoin), Go, and Rust (parity-bitcoin).

Getting Started With Bitcoin Cash

Getting started with Bitcoin Cash is straightforward. Because BCH shares most of its codebase with Bitcoin, the workflow for sending and receiving transactions will feel familiar to anyone who has used Bitcoin before.

Step 1: Choose a Bitcoin Cash wallet. Electron Cash (desktop) or Bitcoin.com Wallet (mobile) are popular options.
Step 2: Purchase BCH from a major cryptocurrency exchange such as Coinbase, Kraken, or Binance.
Step 3: Transfer BCH to your personal wallet. Make sure to use a CashAddr-format address to avoid confusion with Bitcoin addresses.
Step 4: Use BCH for payments — transaction fees are typically less than a cent, making it practical for everyday purchases.

How to Get a Bitcoin Cash Wallet?

Electron Cash

Electron Cash is an open-source desktop wallet for Bitcoin Cash, based on the Electrum wallet codebase. It offers a full-featured SPV (Simplified Payment Verification) wallet with support for CashTokens, multi-signature transactions, coin control, and hardware wallet integration. Available for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android. Electron Cash was one of the first tools used to safely split BCH from BTC after the original fork, and it remains the most full-featured desktop wallet for power users.

Bitcoin.com Wallet

The Bitcoin.com Wallet is a mobile wallet supporting Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies. It provides a simple interface for sending and receiving BCH and includes built-in exchange functionality. It is widely used by newcomers due to its clean interface and prominent promotion by the Bitcoin.com website, which was founded by early Bitcoin Cash advocate Roger Ver.

Hardware Wallets

Ledger and Trezor hardware wallets both support Bitcoin Cash, providing secure offline storage for long-term holdings. BCH can be managed through Ledger Live or the Trezor web interface. Trezor was notably one of the first hardware wallets to provide a coin-splitting tool after the August 2017 fork, allowing users to safely separate their BCH from BTC holdings.

Bitcoin Cash Resources

How to Buy Bitcoin Cash?

BCH is available on most major cryptocurrency exchanges. It is one of the most widely listed cryptocurrencies and has maintained strong trading volume since the original fork.

Centralized Exchanges

BCH can be purchased with fiat currency on Coinbase, Kraken, Binance, and many other exchanges. Most offer BCH/USD and BCH/BTC trading pairs. Some exchanges also support BCH/EUR and BCH/GBP pairs. After purchasing, transfer your BCH to a personal wallet like Electron Cash or Bitcoin.com Wallet for full control of your funds. Always verify that you are withdrawing to a BCH CashAddr address, not a legacy Bitcoin address.

Decentralized Exchanges

BCH can be acquired through decentralized exchange services and atomic swap platforms. Some BCH-native decentralized applications also support trading. Peer-to-peer trading platforms can also be used to purchase BCH directly from other individuals.

Latest Bitcoin Cash News

Bitcoin Cash continues active development focused on its vision as peer-to-peer electronic cash. The CashTokens upgrade enabled on-chain token creation, expanding BCH's functionality beyond simple payments. Bitcoin Cash Node (BCHN) is the primary full node implementation, maintained by an open-source development team. The network maintains a dedicated community of users and merchants who value low-fee, fast transactions for everyday commerce. BCH remains one of the most widely supported cryptocurrencies across exchanges and payment processors, and is accepted by a number of merchants through payment gateways like BitPay.