What are the Key Differences Between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash

Did you rush to search for the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash after confusing them with each other? I get it — you look away for one second, and you’ve missed out on so many things in the crypto space. In this case, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash have been separate entities for a while now, and if you want to do a deep dive into their differences to help your crypto journey, you should stick around. 

In this post, we’ll explore the nitty gritty details of both cryptocurrencies, including their projection for the future so that you can make informed decisions. Sounds good? Let’s begin. 

The Genesis of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash share the same origin story. In fact, Bitcoin Cash was born out of controversy between Bitcoin developers and users. Let’s unpack the details:

Bitcoin, having been around since 2009, launched by the mysterious but futuristic Satoshi Nakamoto, has recorded the most prominent success as a decentralized, peer-to-peer digital currency away from the stifling and tight control of government and central bodies. 

This was received well, and Bitcoin continues to wax stronger and stronger. However, in 2017, developers and users had irreconcilable differences as the developers believed that Bitcoin was not going in the direction intended as a fast and cheap peer-to-peer digital currency. Therefore, they initiated a hard fork which launched Bitcoin Cash. 

While Bitcoin upholds its fundamental principles of immutability, decent, security, and transparency, it has also become loaded with some challenges like slow and expensive transactions and challenges with scalability. 

So, Bitcoin Cash was launched to fix these problems and restore Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision for a faster and cheaper decentralized digital currency. 

Key Technical Differences Between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash 

1. Block size

While Bitcoin only has the capacity for 1 megabyte (1MB) per block, Bitcoin Cash boasts 32 MB per block, which makes it faster and cheaper. However, Bitcoin Cash’s large block size raises some decentralization and security concerns as it now requires more storage and processing power. 

2. Consensus Mechanism

An ongoing debate about Bitcoin is its energy-intensive Proof-of-Work (PoW) mechanism for mining and securing the network. Bitcoin Cash took a different approach by going hybrid — using the proof of work and proof of stake (POS). This is supposed to speed up confirmation time on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain and lower its energy consumption. 

3. Scalability

As Bitcoin’s transactions became slower and more expensive, scalability became a topic of discussion. Many scalability solutions are being discussed, but Bitcoin Cash is ahead as it has a larger block size to accommodate more transactions at cheaper rates. 

Adoption and Acceptance Of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash

Although from the same origin, Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are unequal in public adoption and acceptance. Here’s how they compare:

1. Merchant acceptance and payment systems

It goes without saying that Bitcoin enjoys the most recognition of all cryptocurrencies. Many big corporations and small businesses accept and even offer payment systems for Bitcoin remittances.

On the other hand, Bitcoin Cash is not as well-known as Bitcoin, and its adoption rate is significantly lower than Bitcoin’s. 

2. Community support and development activity

In terms of community support, Bitcoin wins hands down. As the face of cryptocurrency,  it has a large diversity of supporters, including institutional corporations. 

Bitcoin Cash does not compare to Bitcoin in community size but has a passionate community enthusiastic about its fast transactions and growth potential. 

On the development front, Bitcoin tries to stay as close to its original state as possible and is very slow to embrace protocol changes, favoring security and stability over scalability. 

Meanwhile, Bitcoin Cash is all about innovation and scalability, constantly refining its scalability with technological innovations. 

Security and Network Stability Of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash

Let’s look deeper at some extremely vital factors of both cryptocurrencies: Security and Network Stability. These cannot be overemphasized as the core of crypto is to provide a decentralized and secure system that is also stable so that it can fully function without the meddling and overseeing of controlling bodies. 

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash place significant considerations on their security and network stability; however, their methodology and strengths and weaknesses differ. 

1. Hashrate and security considerations

Bitcoin has a high hash rate (the highest of all cryptocurrencies), making it immune to 51% of attacks. And even when attacked, execution is challenging and expensive. Due to this high hash rate, Bitcoin has successfully built trust and confidence, having gone over a decade without significant security breaches (not that people have not tried). 

Bitcoin Cash’s hash rate is significantly lower than Bitcoin’s, and it is more vulnerable to 51% of attacks. 

2. Network Stability factors

Bitcoin does not welcome change very easily — and this has proven to be a good thing for its security because it chooses to maintain network integrity and security over speedy and cheaper transactions. 

Bitcoin Cash embraces scalability with its larger block size. However, this may impact its security and even adoption. This is because large block sizes are not as enticing to miners/nodes, which can affect its decentralization. Large block sizes also require extra storage and processing power, posing another challenge for its adoption rate. 

The Future Outlook Of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash

Predicting crypto’s long-term growth or fall remains a big challenge as they’re inherently unpredictable. However, using several factors, we can give a tentative future outlook. 

1. Potential developments and upgrades in both networks

Bitcoin

Bitcoin is considering some scaling solutions. Lightning Network, a second-layer network, is still being primarily considered to increase Bitcoin’s transaction capacity without causing any alterations to the main ecosystem. 

Bitcoin is also exploring the possibility of minimizing its environmental impact caused by its consensus mechanism. We may see a shift to a more energy-conserving consensus mechanism. 

Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash might be expanding to include smart contracts within its network to attract different users and uses of the blockchain. There could also be some interoperability talk as it enables smooth interactions with other blockchains to improve its usability and increase its adoption.

Its hybrid Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanisms are also being considered merging into one to enhance speed and adoption. 

Bitcoin Cash is also deploying efforts to address the potential of centralization due to large block sizes. 

2. Market trends and community sentiments

Bitcoin

With its stronghold on the market and high market capitalization, Bitcoin is projected to grow in popularity and adoption, especially institutionally. Its dominance as a store-of-value asset and digital gold will most likely remain. Incorporating scaling solutions such as the Lightning Network will substantially impact its use as a merchant payment system. 

Bitcoin’s community is already quite large, and with continued engagement, support, and development efforts, it will remain the top crypto. 

Bitcoin Cash

This crypto’s success may take off as soon as it offers solutions to some of its technical challenges, primarily the large block size causing centralization. Solving these challenges will have an impact on its adoption. 

Bitcoin Cash’s advantage in its community is its passion. With their enthusiasm for Bitcoin Cash’s success, they can contribute to its development to solve its technical challenges and become successful. 

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) About The Key Differences Between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash

Which is better: Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash?

There’s no definitive answer as to which is the better coin. Their strengths and weaknesses make them suitable for different people and purposes. Deciding which is best for you is highly dependent on your needs and priorities. 

Bitcoin is more secure, has a higher adoption rate, and is relatively stable. However, its transaction fees can be expensive, and its scalability issues slow transactions. 

Bitcoin Cash is faster and cheaper, making and receiving payments easy. It is also open to innovation, making it highly scalable. However, its security and adoption rate are lower than Bitcoin’s. 

How fast is Bitcoin Cash compared to Bitcoin?

Bitcoin cash is faster than Bitcoin when it comes to transaction processing. It takes Bitcoin around 10 minutes to confirm a transaction. Meanwhile, Bitcoin Cash takes under 1 minute. Bitcoin can also process only about 3–7 transactions per second, while Bitcoin Cash can process over 100 transactions per second. 

This is due to the massive difference in their block size. Bitcoin’s block size is 1MB, while Bitcoin Cash’s is 32 MB. 

Can Bitcoin Cash be sent to Bitcoin’s address?

No, Bitcoin Cash operates on a completely different blockchain than Bitcoin with varying address formats. So, sending BCH to a BTC address will lead to a loss of funds and will not be recovered.  

Is it safe to invest in Bitcoin Cash?

Unfortunately, I cannot give you a concrete answer to this question because investments, especially crypto investments, are considered risky. Therefore, it’s best to research extensively on Bitcoin Cash and study its price charts and market sentiments before investing. 

Can I mine Bitcoin Cash?

Yes, you can mine Bitcoin Cash. To mine BCH, you must consider your computing power as profitability depends on your setup and how much electricity costs. You should also acquire ASIC miners to competitively mine BCH. 

It’s also important to consider joining a mining pool, which increases your chances of earning rewards, but you’ll have to share with your colleagues. However, even this is more profitable than being a solo miner.