Bitcoin Cash Gives Away Free Crypto on “Bitcoin Independence Day:” Raises Questions

Bitcoin Cash turned one on August 1, 2018, and to celebrate the occasion BTC.com tweeted that the crypto token is handing out free bitcoin cash to participants who successfully scan the QR code on flyers put up in more than 15 cities around the world. It sounds pretty alluring that people get to earn free crypto for merely scanning a QR code from their mobile phones, almost too easy to be true. So what’s the catch?

To understand the background implications, one will need to know how exactly bitcoin cash came into existence and the significance of August 1, 2018.

The idea behind Bitcoin Cash sprung sometime during mid-2017. Proponents of bitcoin cash felt that the original bitcoin will eventually fall short of coming up with the scaling issues that come with its 1MB block size limit, i.e., slow processing of transactions and low space to record transactions in a block of data.

Hence, to counter these limitations bitcoin cash will be equipped with an 8MB block size for each transaction. It will also incorporate the SegWit2x technology, which will help reduce the data size recorded in each block, removing signature data from the block of data and storing it in an extended block.

August 1, 2017, witnessed the birth of bitcoin cash when block number 478,558 was found on BCH blockchain network. This write-up explains everything you need to know about Bitcoin Cash – right from the idea behind it to its eventual official release.

The Significance of August 1, 2017

The selling point of any cryptocurrency is that it’s a decentralized, anonymous digital currency without giving power to specific personnel to make critical decisions. It has no CEO or CTO, as there is no concentration of choice making power in the hands of a person. In fact, the decisions verifying the legitimacy of transactions are taken by a group of highly experienced dedicated developers who have voluntarily agreed to work on the relevant crypto tokens. For reasons cited in the above-linked write-up, bitcoin cash took birth on August 1 as a result of a hard fork, thus creating two parallel nodes for the blockchain network and the cryptocurrencies, i.e., every person holding any units of bitcoin at the time was also in possession of the same amount of bitcoin cash. Of course, market valuation of both the cryptocurrencies was not the same.

Bitcoin Cash Giveaway; Good Decision or a Mediocre PR Stunt?

Coming back to the bitcoin cash giveaway to participants in 15+ major cities around the globe, the question arises whether it’s a moral decision from the BTC community to foster the use of crypto tokens in the mainstream or just a cheap, convenient strategy to attract people to a bitcoin spinoff? The answer depends on the side of the coin you view it from.

From a purely business perspective, it is often said that no PR is bad PR. The eventual goal of publicity is to garner more eyeballs to the product or service that is being thrown out in the light, and the tweet from BTC.com does precisely that. Though, the moral implications behind the free giveaway are open to debate.

Giving out free crypto tokens sparks severe doubts over the legitimacy of such currency.

It is the fundamental economics of demand and supply that any currency, crypto or fiat with a low value in a marketplace (basically zero in this case) will not attract a reasonable demand from the potential holders. People already holding bitcoin cash might feel cheated on seeing that the cryptocurrency is being thrown out to people at virtually no price at all, especially when the crypto industry is going through such a volatile trend.

This will further bring down the overall perception regarding the relevant currency in the global economy.

The Internet is full of forums that heavily criticize bitcoin cash, calling a straight rip-off of the original bitcoin and stealing its open-source code to establish a second-grade self-proclaimed cryptocurrency. Further, it is also believed that bitcoin cash creators gave free tokens to people who were already holding bitcoin to get started and come into the media limelight. BTCManager reported on November 16, 2018, how bitcoin cash fell more than 40 percent in market value within one week due to the volatility surrounding the token.

On the other side of the argument, bitcoin cash had undergone its share of improvements since its inception last year. BTCManager reported on July 20, 2018, how bitcoin cash is working with Bitmain to bring in smart contracts on bitcoin cash blockchain network. The crypto token also upgraded its block size from 8MB to 32MB in May this year. In addition to this, the currency also included several open codes to enhance the blockchain network performance. Getting listed in exchanges all over the world has further bolstered bitcoin cash’s prominence in the cryptosphere.

After all, is said and done, it comes down to the personal moral constitution of an individual how he sees the whole free giveaway episode. For some, it is an easy and convenient availability to make quick crypto money, while for the more invested individuals, the stunt might have been taken in bad taste. What do you think about the debacle? Let us know in the comments section below.