First Things First

What is Bitcoin? Bitcoin is a decentralized peer-to-peer electronic cash system that does not rely on any central authority like a government or financial institution. All transactions are recorded on a global public ledger called the blockchain.

Bitcoin was first described in a white paper written by an anonymous person who went by the name Satoshi Nakamoto in 2008.

Bitcoin’s Key Features

Decentralized
Nobody controls or owns Bitcoin. Transactions cannot be altered or censored

Fixed Supply
Only 21 million will ever be created, defeating the inflationary issues that plague all fiat currencies

Low Fees
The ability to make reliable, fast, affordable transactions is a paramount tenet of Bitcoin

Open to All

Bitcoin is an open source software project, so anyone can review and make changes to the code. Debate on the best code changes and implementations are always happening and is the key to a healthy and decentralized ecosystem.

Growing Pains

Over the years Bitcoin has grown into a worldwide phenomenon. As Bitcoin grew in popularity it became apparent that the Bitcoin community needed to solve a scaling issue.

The problem was, as more people used the network, the limited size of the 1MB blocks within the blockchain started to become full. This lead to less reliable transactions and much higher transaction fees, which undermines the ease of use of the entire system.

Fork Ahead

This issue led to a rift within the Bitcoin community who were conflicted as to the best way to solve this scaling issue.

A small but vocal group felt the need to maintain 1MB block sizes, and work on off-chain settlement layers - still in development today. They wanted to shift Bitcoin away from electronic cash into a collectible settlement layer. This group consisted mainly of developers from the Blockstream Company.

During this pivotal time, this group also took part in wide spread censorship across the major Bitcoin discussion channels, removing any dissenting opinions or contributors.

The other side wanted to increase the block size, allowing for more transactions per block. This instant, on-chain upgrade would keep transactions reliable and fees low, as the blocks would no longer be full. Their argument was unfortunately met with censorship and irrational propaganda, and it became clear Bitcoin as a usable digital cash for the world was in trouble.

The Hard Fork

On August 1, 2017, the developers of Bitcoin-ABC initiated a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain to increase the block size. This new chain had 8MB blocks and was called Bitcoin Cash.

The Results

The hard fork was executed without any issues, and the Bitcoin Cash upgrade made Bitcoin usable as cash again. Transaction fees are low, transaction times fast, and most importantly the Bitcoin Cash community is united in the original vision of Bitcoin as cash for the world.

The BCH and BTC camps have gone their separate ways, but the contentious debates rage on.

What's in a Name?

Is Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin? Well as of now, most media outlets and exchanges refer to Bitcoin (BTC) when they say Bitcoin through control of all the major Bitcoin discussion channels. But, one thing is clear, the original spirit, excitement, and revolutionary idea of digital cash for the world is alive and well with Bitcoin Cash.

We highly recommend researching, reading and researching some more before making your own opinion on the matter. Try to understand the arguments from both sides, think critically, and draw your own conclusions. We believe peer-to-peer electronic cash is a useful tool towards economic freedom, and know Bitcoin Cash will help get us there.

Bright Future

Bitcoin Cash has multiple independent teams of developers providing software implementations. They’re already making great innovations and upgrades to make Bitcoin Cash the best money in the world. The decentralized development also keeps Bitcoin Cash resistant to political and social attacks on protocol development.

Since the fork in 2017, Bitcoin Cash developers have already upgraded the blocksize to 32MB blocks. There are many new and exciting projects utilizing the Bitcoin Cash network. With a strong roadmap, talented developers, and a clear vision for what Bitcoin should be, the future is bright with Bitcoin Cash.

What Now?

We hope this information gives you a clearer understanding of Bitcoin Cash, it's history, and vision. We encourage you to study it more, look at the evidence and use cases, and try it out! Below are some more great resources for information about Bitcoin Cash.

Buy Bitcoin Cash
Purchase Bitcoin Cash with a credit card quickly and securely

BCH.info
Great information for where to buy, use, and accept Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Markets
Compare detailed historical metrics of BTC versus BCH

The Great Bitcoin Scaling Debate
An in depth look at the events surrounding the scaling debate

Bitcoincashers.org
A great source for general Bitcoin Cash information

Bitcoin Cash on Purse.io
Learn how to use Bitcoin Cash to save 20% on Amazon

Bitcoin Cash Projects
Find more Bitcoin Cash use cases by seeing current Bitcoin Cash projects and applications

Spend Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash adoption is growing around the world everyday. Check out this map to find merchants accepting Bitcoin Cash near you!

Accept Bitcoin Cash

It's easy to start accepting Bitcoin Cash at your business, and there are several benefits of doing so

Ultra Low Fees
The network fee for a typical Bitcoin Cash transaction is less than one penny

No Chargebacks
Unlike credit cards, there are never any automatic voids, refunds, chargebacks, or fraudulent charges

Free Marketing
By accepting Bitcoin Cash, merchants can gain free listings in website and app directories

To start accepting BCH payments today simply download and start using a digital wallet. Or you can use a third party solution to streamline the process and provide useful features like automatic conversions, BCH to fiat exchanges, and debit cards. We recommend Bitpay.

Visit our Merchant Solutions page to learn more.

Bitcoin Cash News

Keep up with the latest news and engage with the Bitcoin Cash community in the Bitcoin Cash Telegram Channel!

Get your questions answered, make new friends, and stay informed.