What is Bitcoin Cash (BCH)?

Deep Dive

1. Purpose & Value Proposition

Bitcoin Cash emerged from a 2017 Bitcoin hard fork driven by debates over scaling. While Bitcoin prioritized decentralization via SegWit and Layer-2 solutions, BCH opted to increase block sizes (from 1MB to 8MB, now 32MB) to enable 100+ transactions per second and sub-$0.01 fees (CoinMarketCap). This design aims to fulfill Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision of “peer-to-peer electronic cash” for daily use, contrasting with Bitcoin’s store-of-value narrative.

2. Technology & Architecture

BCH shares Bitcoin’s SHA-256 proof-of-work consensus but diverges in protocol rules. Key technical upgrades include:
- CashTokens (2023): Enables tokenization and DeFi applications.
- VM Limits & BigInt (2025): Expands smart contract functionality by increasing computational resources and enabling high-precision arithmetic (Levex).
These enhancements allow BCH to support decentralized exchanges, cross-chain bridges, and privacy tools while retaining sub-penny transaction costs.

3. Ecosystem & Use Cases

BCH emphasizes real-world adoption:
- Merchant Acceptance: Used by ~2,550 vendors globally, including Overstock.com.
- Remittances: Low fees make it viable for cross-border transfers.
- DeFi: Post-2025 upgrades position BCH as a competitor to Ethereum for decentralized finance.

Conclusion

Bitcoin Cash is a scalable, low-fee blockchain optimized for payments and evolving into a smart contract platform. While its technical roadmap focuses on utility, competition from Bitcoin, Ethereum Layer-2s, and newer blockchains raises questions: Can BCH balance its payment-focused roots with DeFi innovation to stay relevant?