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What Is Bitcoin Cash? Is It Different From Bitcoin?

By October 29, 2020May 9th, 20234 minute read

The battle of supremacy between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash has been going on for quite some time now. This contradiction has split the unified crypto community of Bitcoin into two, following a hard fork. The debate concerning these two cryptos often gets heated, and this ends up confusing the investors even more. The confusion level is even bigger for novice investors who need to take the pick amongst multiple Bitcoin versions by analyzing and differentiating amongst them. Both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash have proposed varied means of tackling increased traffic with more efficiency. While Bitcoin Cash has opted to increase the block size, Bitcoin has chosen the Lightning Network, a second-layer solution. Only time can tell who wins the crown of popularity, but as of now, Bitcoin remains to be the dominant cryptocurrency.

Bitcoin

The world’s first cryptocurrency, Bitcoin, was the brainchild of Satoshi Nakamoto. It has been around since 2009 and has helped worldwide buying, selling, and trading in goods, services, and other investments. In stark contrast to fiat currencies like the U.S. dollar, Bitcoin is not regulated by any central authority. Rather the transactions are verified using computers, which can be owned even by the general public. The transactions are created in blocks that get verified by computers on solving complicated math problems. There is an upper cap of 21 million on the maximum amount of Bitcoin that can be created. Presently, more than 18 million Bitcoins are in existence, and it will take pretty long for the remaining to be placed into circulation, as every four years, the Bitcoins are reduced to half every block. If you are thinking of how to buy bitcoin in India then you need to initially get your KYC verified as this is a basic requirement of any bitcoin exchange. 

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Bitcoin Cash

From the very onset of Bitcoin’s existence, the network started revealing signs of weakness. It failed to handle adequate transactions per second, which could compete with centralized payment systems such as Visa. An increase in transactions around the globe caused Bitcoin to hike up their average transaction fee to $55 by the end of 2017. This scaling issue was addressed by numerous off-scaling solutions, including the Lightning Network, as well as, other side-chain scaling options. Blockchain developer Amaury Séchet came up with the concept of Bitcoin ABC to keep scaling on-chain. The fork of Bitcoin protocol was initiated in August 2017, and it was completed after the Segregated Witness (SegWit) update was launched for improving Bitcoin’s scalability slightly. Bitcoin Cash was produced out of this fork and the resulting crypto adhered to the original Bitcoin codebase while removing the implications of the SegWit upgrade. The maximum block size was also increased to 8MB from the initial 2MB following the fork. This allowed for greater data processing per transaction. Bitcoin Cash as a currency, operates in the same way as that of Bitcoin. 

Bitcoin Vs Bitcoin Cash

  • Bitcoin has presently become a store of value, whereas Bitcoin Cash is considered to be a means of exchange.
  • Bitcoin Cash levies an average transaction fee of $0.023, which allows users to ring in more savings compared to Bitcoin trading. 
  • The transfer time of Bitcoin Cash is significantly lower than Bitcoin, which might require around 10 minutes to verify a single transaction. 
  • A big point of difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash is the upper limit on block size for each network. The size of each block for Bitcoin is roughly 1MB. But blocks of bigger sizes have been successfully mined following the SegWit upgrade. The maximum block size of Bitcoin Cash is 32, which has helped enhance the network’s speed by increasing the number of transactions comprising each block. 
  • The 10-minute average block discovery span implemented initially by Bitcoin has also been retained by Bitcoin Cash. This paves the path for almost similar transaction confirmation times between both the chains. But the bigger size of the Bitcoin Cash block allows a greater number of transactions to be squeezed into each block. The Bitcoin Cash network can undertake approximately 100 transactions per second, which is significantly superior to Bitcoin processing 7 transactions per second (increased to 14 transactions per second following SegWit).
  • Bitcoin Cash comes with additional functions or commands, which are known as opcodes. Different opcodes disabled back in 2018 from Bitcoin were re-enabled for the Bitcoin Cash chain along with brand new additions. This difference offers Bitcoin Cash with enhanced smart contract functionality compared to Bitcoin. 

Final Words

The value of cryptocurrencies might vary according to their level of popularity and degree of usage. Bitcoin Cash was incubated with the dream of filling up the lacunas of Bitcoin and it is expected that it shall surpass the popularity of Bitcoin to snatch the numero-uno spot of the crypto market in days to come. On the first instance, Bitcoin Cash might seem like the better fit for all your cryptocurrency needs. Nevertheless, it carries certain inherent weaknesses which you need to take note of before relying on BCH

Bitcoin Cash doesn’t rank very high in terms of investor confidence, given its relatively new operation. As a result, its market penetration and adoption rate are comparatively lower than Bitcoin. The mining rate is the same for both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. But if you buy Bitcoin Cash, then you will have to pay significantly lower than the rate payable to buy bitcoin in India. This also brings down the profit percentage of BCH miners compared to Bitcoin mining with the same equipment set. 

The tradability of Bitcoin Cash is less compared to Bitcoin as it has significantly less trading pairs. Most cryptocurrencies are traded against Bitcoin, and this has led to its massive popularity. The large Bitcoin community offers an advantage over Bitcoin Cash despite the former’s slow transaction speeds and lack of a clear resolution.

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Frequently Asked Questions

What Type Of Currency Is Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a type of digital currency or cryptocurrency. In January 2009, Bitcoin was established. It's based on Satoshi Nakamoto's ideas, which he laid out in a whitepaper. The name of the individual or people who invented the technology remains unknown.

How Can I Convert Bitcoins To Cash?

Bitcoin may be converted to cash in various ways, including crypto exchanges, Bitcoin ATMs, Bitcoin Debit Cards, and Peer to Peer Transactions. You may do this by using Bitcoin exchanges like WazirX. You may also sell Bitcoin for cash faster and more anonymously through a peer-to-peer marketplace.

What Is Meant By Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a digital currency that was initially released in January 2009. It is based on ideas offered by Satoshi Nakamoto, a mysterious and pseudonymous figure, in a whitepaper. The name of the person or individuals who invented technology has not been revealed. Bitcoin promises lower transaction fees than other online payment systems, and unlike government-issued currencies, it is decentralized.

What Is The Meaning Of Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is a type of cryptocurrency that was first introduced in January 2009. It is invented based on the key concepts and notions presented in a whitepaper by Satoshi Nakamoto, a mysterious and pseudonymous figure. The name of the individual or people who invented technology is yet unknown. Bitcoin promises reduced transaction fees than existing online payment methods, and a decentralized authority controls it, unlike government-issued currencies.

Who Created Bitcoin?

Bitcoin is the first application of the concept of "cryptocurrency," first articulated in 1998 on the cypherpunks mailing list by Wei Dai, who proposed a new form of money that relies on cryptography rather than a central authority to manage its creation and transactions. Satoshi Nakamoto published the initial Bitcoin specification and proof of concept on the cryptography mailing list in 2009. Satoshi exited the project in late 2010, with little information about himself available. Since then, the community has evolved, with numerous people working on Bitcoin. Satoshi's anonymity has sparked unfounded fears, many of which may be traced back to a misunderstanding of Bitcoin's open-source nature.

How Much Is 1 Bitcoin Worth Today?

Check out the current price of Bitcoin on the WazirX exchange. Bitcoin's value is primarily determined by its supply and demand in the market. Other elements have an impact on its worth. Its intrinsic value can also be calculated by calculating the average marginal cost of producing a Bitcoin at any given time, based on the block reward, electricity price, mining hardware energy efficiency, and mining difficulty.

How To Invest In Bitcoin?

Bitcoin may be invested in two ways: through mining or exchanges. Bitcoin mining is carried out by high-powered computers that solve challenging computational arithmetic problems that are too difficult to complete by hand and complex enough to tax even the most powerful computers. WazirX, a Bitcoin exchange, is another alternative.

How Does Bitcoin Technology Work?

The blockchain is the foundation of Bitcoin. It is a decentralized, distributed ledger that tracks the provenance of digital assets. The data on a blockchain can't be changed by design, making it a real disruptor in industries like payments, cybersecurity, and healthcare.

How To Convert Bitcoin To Cash?

There are many ways of converting Bitcoin to cash, such as crypto exchanges, Bitcoin ATMs, Bitcoin Debit Cards, Peer to Peer Transactions. You can use cryptocurrency exchanges such as WazirX for this. Unlike typical ATMs, which allow you to withdraw money from your bank account, a Bitcoin ATM is a physical location where you may buy and sell Bitcoins using fiat currency. Several websites provide the option of selling Bitcoin in return for a prepaid debit card that may be used just like a standard debit card. You can sell Bitcoin for cash through a peer-to-peer platform in a faster and more anonymous manner.

How To Make Bitcoin?

Bitcoin mining is not just the process of putting new Bitcoins into circulation, but it is also an essential part of the blockchain ledger's upkeep and development. It is carried out with the assistance of highly advanced computers that answer challenging computational math problems. Miners are rewarded for their efforts as auditors. They are in charge of ensuring that Bitcoin transactions are legitimate. Satoshi Nakamoto, who is the founder of Bitcoin, innovated this standard for keeping Bitcoin users ethical. Miners help to prevent the "double-spending problem" by confirming transactions.

Disclaimer: Cryptocurrency is not a legal tender and is currently unregulated. Kindly ensure that you undertake sufficient risk assessment when trading cryptocurrencies as they are often subject to high price volatility. The information provided in this section doesn't represent any investment advice or WazirX's official position. WazirX reserves the right in its sole discretion to amend or change this blog post at any time and for any reasons without prior notice.
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