What Is Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin Cash is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that enables money to be sent directly from one person to another in the form of the cryptocurrency BCH. It can be used to make payments of any size quickly and cheaply anywhere in the world.
Unlike traditional currencies, Bitcoin Cash doesn’t require intermediaries such as banks and payment processors as the network is decentralised and permissionless. This means there are no borders, chargebacks, or overdrafts, and no one to charge high fees or freeze or seize users’ funds.
Bitcoin Cash was created when Bitcoin underwent a hard fork, that is, the blockchain diverged into two separate blockchains. A major difference between the two resultant chains is that Bitcoin Cash has a larger block size than Bitcoin.
This means that Bitcoin Cash can handle more transactions per second and scale to serve a larger number of users while transactions remain fast and low cost. Consequently, Bitcoin Cash is better for making payments than Bitcoin, with its slow transactions and high fees. In fact, Bitcoin Cash is already accepted by various merchants around the world.
Ways to Invest in Bitcoin Cash
Some people want to turn a quick profit and sell their BCH as soon as possible, while others prefer to hold onto their coins for the long term. It is possible to generate returns through both of these methods, so which you choose will depend on your own skills and aims.
Buy and hold Bitcoin Cash
This strategy’s popularity stems from its simplicity. It doesn’t take much skill to buy BCH and hold it for a period of time. It also doesn’t take much time as there is no need to constantly monitor and analyse the market to make a profit.
BCH cannot be staked as the network is secured by mining, just like Bitcoin. However, BCH can be exchanged for goods and services from a number of merchants that accept it.
Best Bitcoin Cash wallets
Private wallets are a popular place to keep coins that you intend to hold onto for a while. This is because they can provide strong security and don’t put you at the mercy of a centralised service.
The most secure option is a hardware wallet such as Trezor, BitBox, or Ledger, but they can be a bit costly and aren’t necessarily very user intuitive. Software wallets provide a free and user-friendly alternative that can be downloaded to your computer or mobile device.
Trade Bitcoin Cash
Buying and selling BCH over shorter timeframes can also be profitable by generating returns more often. This is what traders do but it takes more time and effort, and they often use skills such as technical analysis to find the best times to buy and sell.
Transferring coins out of a private wallet every time you want to sell them can be laborious, which is why traders often opt instead to store their coins in the less secure but more convenient web wallet provided for free by their exchange.
For a breakdown of some of the best Bitcoin Cash Exchanges check our top list.
Should I Buy Bitcoin Cash Now?
It is important to read up on Bitcoin Cash but ultimately you will have to make investment decisions for yourself. Like Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash has a capped maximum supply of 21 million coins. This scarcity could make BCH a good long-term store of value.
The ability to make fast, cheap transactions with a smartphone or computer makes Bitcoin Cash beneficial for a range of use cases, including paying online retailers, remittances, cross-border trade, private payments, and facilitating micro-payments such as tips and rewards.
BCH will likely become more valuable as more people adopt it in everyday life. The cryptocurrency is already accepted by many merchants around the world, and if that number grows and the community continues to develop new and better use cases, Bitcoin Cash would appear to be a project with a lot of potential.
