Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is an independent cryptocurrency that broke away from Bitcoin on 1 August 2017, after a long community dispute over how the network should scale to handle growing transaction demand.

Where Bitcoin chose to add Segregated Witness and push transaction volume onto layers built above the base chain, the Bitcoin Cash camp favored a simpler route: raise the block size limit so many more transactions fit into a single block. Starting at 8 MB and later expanded to 32 MB, this larger capacity lets Bitcoin Cash settle transactions faster and more cheaply, positioning it as a payments-oriented alternative to Bitcoin's role as a store of value.

The project has split further since its own creation. In November 2018, a dispute over a protocol upgrade divided Bitcoin Cash into two rival camps: Bitcoin ABC, which kept the BCH name and ticker, and Bitcoin SV, backed by Craig Wright, which broke away as its own coin (BSV). A second contested split in November 2020 spun off the eCash (XEC) network. Since then, BCH's developers have coordinated annual protocol upgrades, most recently adding features like on-chain looping and reusable functions, aimed at making the network more programmable rather than a purely low-fee payment rail.

BCH remains one of the more established cryptocurrencies by market capitalization, drawing support from merchants and payment processors seeking cheap, fast settlement, though it continues to trade well below its December 2017 all-time high.