On this page
Bitcoin Cash is a public blockchain and payment network whose native asset is BCH. It separated from Bitcoin on August 1, 2017, following a disagreement over scaling. It remains an active, separately developed network as of October 8, 2026. BCH is not another name for BTC, and sending either asset requires a wallet and destination that support the correct chain.
Why Bitcoin Cash separated from Bitcoin
The dispute concerned how a growing network should accommodate more transactions. Bitcoin Cash supporters favored expanding on-chain capacity so that ordinary payments could continue to be recorded directly in blocks at low cost. Bitcoin followed a different development path, including greater emphasis on layers built above the base chain.
The split produced two independent transaction histories from a shared starting point. This is different from creating a token on Ethereum or issuing shares in a company. BCH has its own nodes, miners, network rules and market. Later disputes produced further chain splits, which is why the names Bitcoin, Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin SV should never be used interchangeably.
How a BCH payment works
A wallet signs a transaction using the owner's private key and broadcasts it to the network. Nodes check whether the inputs can be spent and whether the transaction follows the protocol. Miners compete using SHA-256 proof of work, and valid blocks add transactions to the chain.
The transaction model uses unspent transaction outputs, commonly shortened to UTXOs. A payment consumes previous outputs and creates new ones, including change where necessary. A wallet normally handles that bookkeeping, but it explains why a transaction can have more outputs than the recipient expects.
A broadcast payment and a confirmed payment are different states. A merchant can choose to accept an unconfirmed transaction for a small purchase, while an exchange may require multiple blocks before crediting a deposit. The appropriate confirmation policy depends on the amount, service and risk tolerance. A claim that payments appear quickly does not mean all recipients regard them as final immediately.
Supply and incentives
The protocol caps issuance at 21 million BCH. Miners receive newly issued coins according to the subsidy schedule, together with transaction fees. Halvings reduce the subsidy over time. A fixed issuance limit does not fix a coin's purchasing power, nor does it remove the costs of operating the network.
Mining participation, hash-power concentration and fee income remain relevant to security. Sharing a hashing algorithm with another network does not mean sharing that network's full security budget. The economically available mining power and the incentives for allocating it between networks can change.
Beyond the original block-size debate
Bitcoin Cash has continued to change since the original split. CashTokens introduced native fungible and non-fungible token capabilities in 2023. The Adaptive Block Limit Algorithm followed in 2024, allowing the capacity limit to respond to usage. These changes broaden the network's design beyond a simple comparison of block sizes.
Bitcoin Cash Node's upgrade documentation also records later scripting and protocol work, including the May 2026 upgrade. A token issued using CashTokens is still a separate asset from BCH. Wallets and applications must support the relevant functionality; a wallet's ability to receive ordinary BCH does not establish that it will safely handle every token or application.
Using wallets and exchanges carefully
BCH is available through cryptocurrency trading services, but supported countries, custody arrangements and deposit networks vary. CashAddr was developed to make Bitcoin Cash addresses more distinguishable from legacy formats. Address formatting helps reduce confusion, but it does not replace checking the asset and network selected at both ends.
For older holdings, exporting keys into an unfamiliar fork-claiming tool creates a separate security risk. Anyone who obtains a private key may be able to spend assets controlled by it. The historical fact that a chain split occurred is not a reason to expose keys to a website promising recovery.
Bitcoin Cash's practical proposition is straightforward: a payment system with direct on-chain settlement and programmable asset features. Evaluating it requires looking at transaction handling, software support and real service availability, rather than adopting either side's claim to be the only legitimate continuation of Bitcoin.