Introduction
Don't confused Bitcoin Cash as the same thing as Bitcoin as it's the "fork" of the latter. To simplify it, Bitcoin Cash is the offshoot of the Bitcoin cryptocurrency. Both of these cryptoassets are available for trading via the eToro online investment platform.
But wait, what is a fork? In Software Engineering terms, a "fork" or a 'project fork' is a new software developed using the source code from a particular software. In Bitcoin Cash' case, it was developed using the source code of Bitcoin.
77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
History of Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin Cash came about in 2017 after a group of Bitcoin activists, developers and investors voiced unhappiness at Bitcoin's plan to increase capacity. These group lobbied for the increase in Bitcoin's block size to 8 megabytes via a 'hard fork'.
This opposition among other issues paved the way for the creation of Bitcoin Cash. While no specific person or organization is credited with developing Bitcoin Cash, it is seen as a collaborative effort among earlier stakeholders namely Bitcoin miners and developers. Some refers to them as the Bitcoin Unlimited.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was the result of the disagreements that arose among the Bitcoin community stemming from the different ideas on how the Bitcoin should be managed and run to deal with increasing demand.
Bitcoin Cash debuted in 2017 with an 8MB block size and has since upgraded its block size to 32MB blocks.
The Difference Between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash
- Bitcoin Cash is more scalable, cheaper and faster to process than Bitcoin. This means more users can make a transaction on the Bitcoin Cash blockchain always.
- The block size of Bitcoin Cash is 32MB, while Bitcoin's is 1MB
- In the Hash Rate category, Bitcoin has a more robust mining power. Bitcoin has more than 100 exhalates while Bitcoin Cash has around 2 exhalates.
- In terms of adoption, Bitcoin remains as the more popular—if not, the most popular—cryptocurrency in the world today. However, Bitcoin Cash is quickly gaining value and users.
Similarities of Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin
- Both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are decentralized and not regulated and backed by any financial institution or any government.
- Both cryptocurrencies are processed, logged and validated through a blockchain technology.
- Both has a finite circulation in order to remain resistant to inflation. Like Bitcoin, the number Bitcoin Cash to be created is capped at 21 million.
Bitcoin Cash in a Nutshell
- Peer-to-Peer: You can easily send a Bitcoin Cash to anyone directly without having to go through a bank or other financial regulatory channels.
- Transparent: Bitcoin Cash users can view and verify all Bitcoin Cash transactions in its blockchain which is publicly accessible.
- High Security: Bitcoin Cash is secured by a strong encryption program that makes it resistant to hacking, cyber fraud and online attacks.
- Decentralized: Bitcoin Cash is not controlled by any banks or government and has a network spread out and accessible by computers and the internet all over the world.
- Low Fees: Users can send money (Bitcoin Cash) to anyone anywhere in the world for just the price of a penny.
- Reliable: The Bitcoin Cash runs through a network devoid of any congestion and lag-time.
Is Bitcoin Cash Prone to Inflation?
As already mentioned in this article, Bitcoin Cash is capped at 21 million coins (same number as Bitcoin). This guarantees Bitcoin Cash to become inflation-resistant as opposed to physical currencies of countries all over the world where print money is printed endlessly thus pulling its value down over time.
Does Investing on Bitcoin Cash a Sound Idea?
Just like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash falls into the extreme volatility category. If you plan to hold into a crypto for a long time and can endure the roller-coaster volatility of Bitcoin Cash and is trusting of the ever-developing and improving blockchain technology of Bitcoin Cash, then you can make a good argument to invest on Bitcoin Cash. Similar to Bitcoin, it presents a huge potential for a high reward against its high risk and crazy price swings.
Bitcoin Cash is NO Copycat of Bitcoin
Bitcoin Cash may be the result of a 'fork' of the Bitcoin code, but it is not a 'copycat' of Bitcoin. This wrong notion added to the confusion of many investors with regards to Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash before. BCH or Bitcoin Cash should be seen as its own digital currency and only time will tell if it can be an even better crypto than Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Cash Wallet
You can store your Bitcoin Cash on popular wallets available today. These include the Ledger Nano X and the Ledger Nano S. These are hardware wallets where you can keep your Bitcoins Cash even in offline devices.
Or you can keep your Bitcoin Cash on trading platforms such as eToro.
How to Open a BCH Wallet with eToro?
In order to use eToro's BCH wallet service, you will need to transfer a BCH position via the eToro trading platform under your name to the crypto wallet under the same account. The good news is that you won't incur any fees opening a BCH wallet and transferring it to eToro wallet.
How to Trade Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on eToro?
- On your eToro dashboard, click “Trade Markets”.
Clicking "Trade Markets" on eToro - Select “Crypto”.
Selecting "Crypto" on eToro's Markets screen - Scroll down to look for “BCH”.
Looking for Bitcoin Cash on eToro's list of crypto assets - Click “Buy” and set the amount you want to invest.
 on eToro's platform.webp)
Buying Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on eToro's platform - Click “Open Trade”.
Executing BCH buy order on eToro
eToro is a multi-asset platform which offers both investing in stocks and cryptoassets, as well as trading CFDs.
Please note that CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 77% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs with this provider. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work, and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
Past performance is not an indication of future results. Trading history presented is less than 5 complete years and may not suffice as basis for investment decision.
Copy Trading does not amount to investment advice. The value of your investments may go up or down. Your capital is at risk.
Cryptoasset investing is highly volatile and unregulated in some EU countries. No consumer protection. Tax on profits may apply.
eToro USA LLC does not offer CFDs and makes no representation and assumes no liability as to the accuracy or completeness of the content of this publication, which has been prepared by our partner utilizing publicly available non-entity specific information about eToro.