Overview

Technology

Future Focus

Wallets

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a cryptocurrency hardfork of Bitcoin (BTC), which took place at block number 478558 in 2017. In July 2017 Bitcoin mining pools and companies voted to implement a technology known as 'SegWit2x'. SegWit removes much of the 'signature data' that needs to be processed in each transaction. Signature data can account for up to 65% of all data processed within each block, so removing it was a significant technological step.A large number of Bitcoin enthusiasts felt SegWit did not address fundamental scalability issues. Moreover, some BTC enthusiasts believed the introduction of SegWit did not follow the original roadmap outlined by Satoshi Nakamoto (Bitcoin’s creator). As a result, miners and developers alike initiated the Bitcoin hardfork on August 1st 2017. The resulting forked currency, Bitcoin Cash, boasts an increased block size (8MB) comparative to Bitcoin and aims to follow Satoshi Nakamoto's original vision to become a truly decentralised peer-to-peer digital currency.Bitcoin Cash has an 8MB block size. As a result, miners can add a more substantial number of transactions to each block that is generated comparative to Bitcoin (BTC). This increases transaction times and allows for a higher degree of scalability. Bitcoin Cash uses a Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to validate transactions and produce new blocks on the chain, similar to Bitcoin.PoW is the original consensus algorithm and is considered highly secure. However, it is criticised and limited by the processing power required to mine, which has a negative impact on the environment. With PoW, miners race against each other to solve a complex mathematical puzzle, and the first to do so receives a reward. The more computational power a miner has, the more likely they are to solve the puzzle. Once the mathematical puzzle is solved, a new block is formed and added to the blockchain. Transactions placed in this block are considered confirmed.The goal for Bitcoin Cash is to “become sound money” useable worldwide. The three key focuses moving forward include scalability, usability and extensibility.Scalability-wise, BCH developers are working on faster block propagation and UTXO commitment, with plans to implement Merklix-Metadata trees and adaptive block sizes of up to 1TB!They’re looking to reduce transaction fees and add “pre-consensus” for merchants to be confident that they’ve received payments.As for extensibility, the team are working to introduce more basic Opcodes and a more compact transaction format to make future upgrades less disruptive to the network.For more information regarding Bitcoin Cash visit the official website Great free wallet options for storing BCH (amongst other tokens) include Jaxx, Exodus and Copay. The two hardware wallets we recommend you choose from (should you wish to purchase an ultra-secure wallet) are Ledger or Trezor.