Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash | |
---|---|
Logo | |
Ticker symbol | BCH[lower-alpha 1] |
Precision | 10−8 |
Coins | Unspent outputs of transactions[lower-alpha 2] |
Development | |
Implementation(s) | BitcoinABC, Bitcoin Unlimited, Bitcoin XT |
Forked from | Bitcoin |
Website | bitcoincash.org |
Ledger | |
Genesis block | 3 January 2009[1] |
Block #1 | 9 January 2009[2] |
First block after split (block #478559) | 1 August 2017 |
Timestamping scheme | Proof-of-work (partial hash inversion) |
Hash function | SHA-256 |
Issuance | decentralized, block reward |
Block reward | 12.5 BCH[lower-alpha 3] |
Block time | 10 minutes |
Block explorer |
blockchair |
Supply limit | 21,000,000 BCH |
Valuation | |
Exchange rate |
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Market cap |
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Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency.[4] In mid-2017, a group of developers wanting to increase bitcoin's block size limit prepared a code change. The change, called a hard fork, took effect on 1 August 2017. As a result, the bitcoin ledger called the blockchain and the cryptocurrency split in two.[5] At the time of the fork anyone owning bitcoin was also in possession of the same number of Bitcoin Cash units.[5]
Classification
Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency[6] and a payment network.[7] In relation to bitcoin it is characterized variously as a spin-off,[6] a strand,[8] a product of a hard fork,[9] an offshoot,[10] a clone,[11] a second version[12] or an altcoin.[13]
History
Rising fees on the bitcoin network contributed to a push by some in the community to create a hard fork to increase the blocksize.[14] This push came to a head in July 2017 when some members of the Bitcoin community including Roger Ver felt that adopting BIP 91 without increasing the block-size limit favored people who wanted to treat Bitcoin as a digital investment rather than as a transactional currency.[15][16] This push by some to increase the block size met a resistance. Since its inception up to July 2017, bitcoin users had maintained a common set of rules for the cryptocurrency.[15] Eventually, a group of bitcoin activists,[12] investors, entrepreneurs, developers[15] and largely China based miners were unhappy with bitcoin's proposed SegWit improvement plans meant to increase capacity and pushed forward alternative plans for a split which created Bitcoin Cash.[11] The proposed split included a plan to increase the number of transactions its ledger can process by increasing the block size limit to eight megabytes.[15][16]
The would-be hard fork with an expanded block size limit was described by hardware manufacturer Bitmain in June 2017 as a "contingency plan" should the Bitcoin community decide to fork; the first implementation of the software was proposed under the name Bitcoin ABC at a conference that month. In July 2017, the Bitcoin Cash name was proposed by mining pool ViaBTC.
In 2018 Bitcoin Core developer Cory Fields found a bug in the Bitcoin ABC software that would have allowed an attacker to create a block causing a chain split. Fields notified the development team about it and the bug was fixed.[17]
The research firm Chainanalysis noted that in May 2018, 17 largest payment processing services such as BitPay, Coinify, and GoCoin processed Bitcoin Cash payments worth of US$3.7 million, down from US$10.5 million processed in March.[18]
Bitcoin Cash is also referred to as Bcash.[19]
Trading
Bitcoin Cash trades on digital currency exchanges including Bitstamp,[20] Coinbase,[21] Gemini,[22] Kraken,[23] and ShapeShift using the Bitcoin Cash name and the BCH ticker symbol for the cryptocurrency. A few other exchanges use the BCC ticker symbol, though BCC is commonly used for Bitconnect. On 26 March 2018, OKEx removed all Bitcoin Cash trading pairs except for BCH/BTC, BCH/ETH and BCH/USDT due to "inadequate liquidity".[6] As of May 2018, daily transaction numbers for Bitcoin Cash are about one-tenth of those of bitcoin.[6]
By November 2017 the value of Bitcoin Cash, which had been as high as $900, had fallen to around $300, much of that due to people who had originally held Bitcoin selling off the Bitcoin Cash they received at the hard fork.[14] On December 20, 2017 it reached an intraday high of $4,355.62 and then fell 88% to $519.12 on August 23, 2018.[24]
Payment service providers
As of August 2018, Bitcoin Cash payments are supported by payment service providers such as BitPay, Coinify and GoCoin.[18]
See also
References
- ↑ Cuthbertson, Anthony (21 May 2018). "The Battle over Bitcoin: Scandal and Infighting as 'Bitcoin Cash' Threatens to Overthrow the Most Famous Cryptocurrency". Independent. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ↑ "Bitcoin Cash Block 1". blockchair.com. Retrieved 13 February 2018.
- 1 2 "Cryptocurrency Market Capitalizations". coinmarketcap.com. Retrieved 20 April 2018.
- ↑ Smith, Oli (21 January 2018). "Bitcoin price RIVAL: Cryptocurrency 'faster than bitcoin' will CHALLENGE market leaders". Express. Retrieved 1 March 2018.
- 1 2 Selena Larson (1 August 2017). "Bitcoin split in two, here's what that means". CNN Tech. Cable News Network. Retrieved 2 April 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 Kelly, Jemima (15 May 2018). "Bitcoin cash is expanding into the void". Financial Times. Retrieved 3 June 2018. (Registration required (help)).
- ↑ Lee, Timothy B. (20 December 2017). "Bitcoin rival Bitcoin Cash soars as Coinbase adds support". Ars Technica. Retrieved 19 June 2018.
- ↑ Titcomb, James (2 August 2017). "Bitcoin Cash: Price of new currency rises after bitcoin's 'hard fork'". The Telegraph. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
- ↑ Orcutt, Mike (14 November 2017). "Bitcoin Cash Had a Big Day, Hinting at a Deep Conflict in the Cryptocurrency Community". MIT Technology Review. Retrieved 7 June 2018.
- ↑ Chen, Lulu Yilun; Lam, Eric. "Bitcoin Is Likely to Split Again in November, Say Major Players". Bloomberg. Retrieved 22 January 2018.
- 1 2 Irrera, Anna; Chavez-Dreyfuss, Gertrude (2 August 2017). "Bitcoin 'clone' sees a slow start following split". Independent. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- 1 2 "Bitcoin divides to rule". The Economist. 5 August 2017. Retrieved 23 July 2018.
- ↑ Vigna, Paul (23 December 2017). "Bitcoin Cash, Litecoin, Ether, Oh My! What's With All the Bitcoin Clones?". WSJ. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
- 1 2 Laura Shin (23 October 2017). "Will This Battle For The Soul Of Bitcoin Destroy It?". Forbes. Retrieved 14 April 2018.
- 1 2 3 4 Popper, Nathaniel (25 July 2017). "Some Bitcoin Backers Are Defecting to Create a Rival Currency". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 28 July 2017.
- 1 2 Nakamura, Yuri; Kharif, Olga (4 December 2017). "Battle for 'True' Bitcoin Is Just Getting Started". Bloomberg Businessweek. Retrieved 19 December 2017.
- ↑ Evans, John (10 August 2018). "Cryptocurrency insecurity: IOTA, BCash and too many more". Techcrunch. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- 1 2 Kharif, Olga (20 August 2018). "'Bitcoin Jesus' Is Having a Hard Time Winning Over True Believers". Bloomberg. Retrieved 21 August 2018.
- ↑ Bcash Nickname Sources:
- Shen, Lucinda (8 August 2017). "Bitcoin Just Surged to Yet Another All-Time High". Fortune Magazine. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- Ambler, Pamela (9 August 2017). "The Rapid Rise And Fall Of Bitcoin Cash". Forbes. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- Graham, Luke (31 July 2017). "A new digital currency is about to be created as the bitcoin blockchain is forced to split in two". CNBC. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- Staff Writer (4 May 2018). "BRIEF-Riot Blockchain Produced About 100 Bitcoins And 61 Bcash For April". Reuters. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- Varshney, Neer (20 April 2018). "Alexa disses Bitcoin Cash: 'Everyone knows Bitcoin is the real Bitcoin'". The Next Web. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- Miller, Ben (4 May 2018). "What's Riot Blockchain up to now? Mining more bitcoin, apparently". BizJournals. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- Dulis, Ezra (21 December 2017). "The Bitcoin Community Is Furious With Coinbase's Surprise Launch Of 'BCash'". MadridJournals. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
- "PC Magazine Encyclopedia Definition of BCash". PC Magazine. Retrieved 7 July 2018.
- Vendituoli, Monica (17 May 2018). "Denver among top cities for blockchain jobs". Denver Business Journal. Retrieved 5 July 2018.
- Kelly, Brian (14 July 2018). "VIDEO:Coinbase just announced they could add five new coins to their platform". CNBC. Retrieved 14 July 2018.
- Evans, John (10 August 2018). "Cryptocurrency insecurity: IOTA, BCash and too many more". Techcrunch. Retrieved 12 August 2018.
- ↑ "Bitstamp To Launch Bitcoin Cash Trading". Forbes. 21 November 2017. Retrieved 22 June 2018.
- ↑ Peterson, Becky (9 January 2018). "Coinbase blames extreme buyer demand for last month's Bitcoin cash disaster". Business Insider. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
- ↑ del Castillo, Michael (14 May 2018). "Winklevoss Brothers Bitcoin Exchange Adds Zcash, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash". Forbes. Retrieved 24 May 2018.
- ↑ Decambre, Mark (2 August 2017). "Meet Bitcoin Cash—the new digital-currency that surged 122% in less than a day". MarketWatch. Retrieved 5 June 2018.
- ↑ Osipovich, Alexander (24 August 2018). "It Was Meant to Be the Better Bitcoin. It's Down Nearly 90%". Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 26 August 2018.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bitcoin Cash. |