While we may have many words of praise for the
While we may have many words of praise for the pioneering cryptocurrency that shook the fintech space, and in many ways inaugurated it, Bitcoin has also faced a lot of criticism in terms of its scalability issues. Now, as we already know, many hard forks of Bitcoin result in altcoins that strive to improve upon these problems. One of them, which has its own fork coming up in a day, is Bitcoin Cash. Given that there is a clear difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash (BCH), we definitely need to have a look at this altcoin to understand how it individually fares. In this beginner’s guide to Bitcoin Cash, we explore the basics of this cryptocurrency.
What is Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency that was born out of a fork of the Bitcoin, and means to put Bitcoin’s scalability debates to rest by achieving increased operational efficiency through a much larger block size (8MB compared to Bitcoin’s 1MB). This helps in bringing down the transaction time and making the network far more cost-effective, so that the scalability can be enhanced. While the key difference between the two is in terms of their respective block sizes, there are also several similarities between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. These similarities give a strong grounding to the BCH, even as the differences make it better than its parent crypto.
According to the Bitcoin Cash website:
“Bitcoin Cash brings sound money to the world, fulfilling the original promise of Bitcoin as “Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash”. Merchants and users are empowered with low fees and reliable confirmations.”
Salient Features of Bitcoin Cash
In this section, we will take a look at the key features of Bitcoin Cash that set it apart from the horde of cryptocurrencies and especially, altcoins that have flooded the market today. The following are its key characteristics:
Speedy and Cost-effective
With a block size of 8 MB, Bitcoin Cash is able to process and validate far more transactions than Bitcoin can in a given duration of time. This is obviously a huge step forward in terms of efficiency, speed and cost-effectiveness, because a higher number of transactions get validated and recorded for a far smaller amount of resources.
Designed to Be Decentralized
Since the BCH network is distributed across a number of node computers at the same time, it has a decentralized nature. No central authority is given the power to control it. Having said that, however concerns of centralisation and a possibility of 51% attacks keep plaguing this network as only a few mining pools have come to control a major section of the network.
Peer-to-peer Basis of Bitcoin Cash Transactions
The biggest boon of cryptocurrencies: the ability to do away with intermediaries altogether is definitely present in the BCH. Any person can send funds to another at any part of the world without having to deal with pesky middlemen or pay high administrative fees.
Security of Bitcoin Cash
With the incredibly effective SecureSigs technology in place, Bitcoin Cash is able to ensure top-notch encryption that makes your transactions extremely safe and secure. This also helps to guard against cybercriminals who try to prey upon network vulnerabilities any chance they get.
Transparency of Bitcoin Cash
The Bitcoin Cash blockchain network is an incredibly transparent one since all the transaction details are recorded onto a publicly accessible database. Anyone who wants to can verify the data.
Having had a decent run this year, the future of Bitcoin Cash seems to be fairly bright. You might want to invest in some before the prices shoot up!