Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin: In-Depth Comparison for Crypto Investors

When you think crypto, you almost certainly think of Bitcoin (BTC). But did you know that there are different kinds of Bitcoin? If you’ve spent time in the space, you’ve probably encountered symbols like BCH, BSV, or BTG. These are tickers representing other Bitcoins. Of these, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is the most widely used. 

So what’s the deal here? 

Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin SV (BSV), and Bitcoin Gold (BTG) were formed by splitting from the original Bitcoin blockchain. These forks are known as forks, and while Bitcoin has had many over the years, these three are the only active ones. BCH enjoys the most support and adoption among builders and investors. 

This article will focus on Bitcoin Cash and compare it to Bitcoin as we explore this fascinating world of forked crypto assets.

You Already Know What Bitcoin is, Right?

Bitcoin is the original cryptocurrency. Created by Satoshi Nakamoto, who remains anonymous to this day, it was introduced in 2008 as a way to make digital payments that don’t require a trusted third party. Satoshi created a peer-to-peer electronic payment system with BTC as its currency. 

Bitcoin was initially focused on payments. Back then, it was still just a concept. Few people knew the technology, and the currency was practically worthless. Early adopters used it within their online forums for donations and buying goods and services. This is where we get the infamous story of the 10,000 BTC pizza. 

BTC would slowly gain traction, leading to its adoption as the primary currency in dark web marketplaces like Silk Road (2011- 2013). It was around this time that the general public started becoming aware of the crypto concept, and BTC’s pioneer status would attract widespread admiration, setting it up for tremendous growth.

Today, Bitcoin dominates the crypto market. It’s the most valuable cryptocurrency, consistently valued at more than $90,000, and perennially has the highest market cap. This gives it a market dominance rate of more than 60%.

But Bitcoin’s growth has been marked by volatility. The Bitcoin blockchain also has significant scalability issues. This makes it particularly unsuitable for day-to-day transactions. So, BTC has become more of an investment instrument than a means of payment, with over 60% of its current supply held in long-term (1+ years) storage. 

Bitcoin is now firmly entrenched as a store of value. Factor in its particularly impressive performance over time and fixed supply (capped at 21 million tokens), and you can see why many call it digital gold.  

How Did Bitcoin Cash Come into Being?

Bitcoin Cash is a Bitcoin hard fork. In this case, that means it was formed by splitting the Bitcoin protocol. A hard fork results when the split is so severe that it results in a new blockchain distinct from the original. Here’s how BCH split from Bitcoin. 

Bitcoin was conceived as a P2P payment system. But as it grew in popularity, it became clear that the protocol isn’t designed to handle transactions at scale. It has a low transaction throughput, around 3 to 7 transactions per second (TPS), causing long confirmation times and high transaction costs during peak demand. 

In 2017, the community was exploring ways to improve the network’s scalability and would eventually settle on Segregated Witness (SegWit). This works by optimizing transaction data to allow more transactions to be filled per block. Its implementation also set the stage for scalability solutions like the Lightning Network. 

Still, a segment of the community argued that increasing the block size (from 1MB to 8MB) was a better idea. This group was still not onboard with optimizing transaction data when SegWit was activated in July 2017. So on August 1st, they initiated a fork by pushing an update that increased Bitcoin’s block size to 8 MB. 

Some miners and nodes accepted this upgrade. Because the update fundamentally changed the protocol, these nodes would then split from the original blockchain to form a new network, Bitcoin Cash, with an initial block size of 8 MB. This was later expanded to 32 MB, and more features were introduced post-fork.

Overall, the fork was initiated because part of the community felt that Bitcoin was deviating from Satoshi Nakamoto’s roadmap by implementing SegWit. BCH’s goal has thus remained the same: to align with Bitcoin’s original vision as a peer-to-peer electronic payment system.

With its larger block size, it can theoretically process more transactions per second than Bitcoin, with lower fees. This makes it more suited for day-to-day transactions. 

Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin: Fundamental Differences

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash may share an origin but they have differences that have shaped them into distinct protocols. Here is a quick comparison table.

Category	Bitcoin (BTC)	Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Symbol and Ticker	BTC – universally recognized ticker for Bitcoin	BCH – ticker for Bitcoin Cash
Adoption and Use Cases	Widely adopted, especially for institutional investment and large transactions	Focused on microtransactions and P2P use; limited but growing adoption in certain regions
Transaction Speed & Fees	~7 TPS; 10-minute confirmations; fees vary and can be high	Up to 200 TPS; faster confirmations; consistently low fees (<$0.01)
Network Security & Mining	~850 EH/s hash rate; highly secure due to wide mining participation	~3.25 EH/s hash rate; less secure but easier and more accessible to mine
Smart Contracts & Development	Basic scripting with Taproot upgrade; limited smart contract support	Implements CashScript for advanced contracts; more flexibility than BTC, but still behind platforms like Ethereum
Development Philosophy	Conservative updates via broad consensus; prioritizes stability and security	More agile updates focused on usability and scalability

Symbol and Ticker Confusion

Each crypto token has a ticker, a short unique symbol of 3-5 uppercase letters, that identifies the specific digital assets. It is intended to help investors quickly recognize and differentiate assets, to avoid causing confusion. BTC is the ticker for Bitcoin, while BCH represents Bitcoin Cash.  

Adoption and Use Cases

BTC enjoys widespread adoption. Its strong brand recognition and extensive network make it a preferred choice for institutional investors and large-scale transactions. Bitcoin Cash (BCH), designed for everyday transactions, offers lower fees and faster confirmations, making it suitable for microtransactions and peer-to-peer payments. 

While BCH has seen adoption in specific regions and among certain merchants, its overall acceptance remains more limited compared to BTC.

Transaction Speed and Fees

Bitcoin processes approximately 7 TPS, with confirmation times ranging around 10 minutes and fees varying based on the level of network congestion. In contrast, Bitcoin Cash can handle up to 200 transactions per second due to its larger block size. It also has faster confirmations and consistently lower fees (under $0.01). 

This efficiency makes BCH more practical for everyday transactions, while BTC’s slower speed and higher fees serve to reinforce its position as a store of value.

Network Security and Mining

Bitcoin boasts a significantly higher hash rate, averaging around 850 exahashes per second (EH/s) compared to Bitcoin Cash’s 3.25 EH/s. This is a reflection of BTC’s greater mining participation and network security. It also enjoys a robust infrastructure that makes it more resistant to attacks. 

Bitcoin Cash, with a lower hash rate, is less secure but offers lower mining difficulty, allowing for more accessible mining opportunities. 

Smart Contracts and Development

Smart contracts are self-executing contracts at the heart of decentralized platforms on the blockchain. They are a key feature of many modern blockchains.

Bitcoin’s scripting language is limited, though, restricting its ability to support complex smart contracts. Recent upgrades like Taproot have introduced some enhancements, but its capabilities remain basic. 

Bitcoin Cash has also implemented tools like CashScript to facilitate more advanced smart contract functionalities than on Bitcoin. Nonetheless, neither network matches the smart contract versatility found in newer platforms like Ethereum.

Development Philosophy and Governance

Bitcoin adheres to a conservative development approach that prioritizes stability and security. All changes to the protocol are implemented through an extensive consensus process. Its governance is decentralized, relying on community and developer agreement. 

Bitcoin Cash adopts a more flexible strategy, emphasizing usability and scalability with updates that enhance transaction efficiency. This proactive approach aims to align BCH more closely with everyday transactional use. Like Bitcoin, governance is also decentralized. 

Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin: Differences From an Investment Point of View

Aspect	Bitcoin (BTC)	Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Market Cap & Liquidity	High market cap and deep liquidity; dominant trading pair across exchanges	Lower market cap and thinner liquidity; limited exchange support
Volatility	Historically volatile but increasingly stable as adoption matures	Higher volatility due to lower demand and thinner markets
Growth Potential	Backed by institutional interest and strong brand recognition	Potential in payments-focused markets and developing regions
Institutional Adoption	Widely adopted; includes ETF exposure and corporate holdings	Minimal institutional traction
Risk & Security	Highly secure network; conservative development; strong decentralization	Lower hash rate; higher reorg/fork risk; more agile governance
Store of Value Role	Viewed as digital gold and a hedge against inflation	Focuses on everyday usability over long-term value preservation
Historical ROI	Strong long-term returns; top performer among crypto assets	Lower ROI historically; some speculative peaks during forks or bull runs

Market Capitalization and Liquidity

Bitcoin dominates the crypto market with a market cap of close to $2T (around 63% of the total cryptocurrency market cap). This makes it one of the most liquid crypto assets. Its daily trading volume of more than $30 billion is only second to USDT ($60 billion plus). 

Bitcoin Cash is the 19th-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization. Its daily trading volume sits at around $256 million. 

Price Stability and Volatility

Both BTC and BCH are volatile. However, BTC has shown more price stability over time due to higher trading volume and, recently, institutional backing. BCH tends to experience sharper fluctuations, especially during market swings, as its smaller market cap makes it more sensitive to investor sentiment shifts.

Long-Term Growth Potential

To say that BTC has had tremendous growth since its inception would be an understatement. It went from being practically worthless to hitting an all-time high of more than $100,000 in just over 15 years. Still, many believe that there is more to come thanks to increasing institutional adoption. 

Bitcoin Cash positions itself as a utility-based currency for global payments, with potential in emerging economies. However, limited mainstream adoption hinders its long-term growth compared to BTC.

Institutional Interest and Adoption

BTC enjoys significant institutional interest compared to other cryptocurrencies. It is digital gold after all. Public companies like MicroStrategy and Tesla have purchased and held BTC as part of their treasury strategies. 

BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, also launched a Bitcoin spot ETF in early 2024, alongside others from Fidelity, ARK Invest, and Grayscale.

Interest in Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is mostly retail-driven. It doesn’t have nearly the same level of institutional participation, which influences its perceived legitimacy and long-term investment appeal.

Risk Factors and Investment Security

Bitcoin’s network is highly secure with the highest hash rate and decentralized governance. BCH, while quicker to transact, has faced multiple forks and lower miner participation, increasing risks related to network attacks and instability. Nonetheless, regulatory scrutiny tends to focus more on BTC due to its scale.

Inflation Hedge and Store of Value

BTC is widely regarded as digital gold, with its fixed supply and growing scarcity narrative making it a favored inflation hedge. BCH prioritizes transaction efficiency over store-of-value narratives, which makes it more of a medium of exchange than a hedge.

Historical Performance and ROI

Bitcoin has consistently outperformed most cryptocurrencies, including BCH, in terms of ROI. It has weathered multiple cycles and remains a top asset. BCH has seen speculative surges, especially post-fork, but hasn’t delivered comparable long-term returns.

So, Which Is a Better Investment in 2025?

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are well-established assets in the crypto market. But compared to one another, Bitcoin enjoys wider adoption, higher liquidity, and greater institutional interest, giving it more attractive long-term prospects than Bitcoin Cash. It also has a much better historical track record. 

But while BCH may not be as solid a long-term investment as BTC, its higher volatility makes it more suitable for short-term trading. Ultimately, your choice will depend on your specific goals as an investor. Are you after long-term profit? Or do you intend to capitalize on short-term market movements?  

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Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are only a few of the many opportunities available in the crypto market. If you want to explore more opportunities and how to make the most of each, Dypto Crypto has the right resources for you. Understand the market and start your crypto journey the smart way on our crypto trading and investment education platform. 

FAQs (Frequently Asked Questions)

Should I buy Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash?

Bitcoin (BTC) is widely regarded as the more stable and established investment, hence the moniker digital gold. It boasts a significantly higher market capitalization and broader adoption compared to Bitcoin Cash (BCH), which was created to facilitate faster and cheaper blockchain transactions. 

Will Bitcoin Cash overtake Bitcoin?

It’s highly unlikely. Bitcoin maintains a dominant position with a market cap exceeding $1 trillion, while Bitcoin Cash lags significantly behind. BTC’s extensive network effect, institutional adoption, and security infrastructure make it improbable for BCH to surpass it.

Does Bitcoin Cash offer a better ROI as compared to Bitcoin?

Historically, Bitcoin has delivered more consistent and higher returns on investment. While Bitcoin Cash may experience short-term gains, it also carries higher volatility and risk, making Bitcoin the more reliable choice for long-term investors.

Is Bitcoin Cash more energy-efficient than Bitcoin?

Yes. Bitcoin Cash transactions consume less energy due to lower mining difficulty and a smaller network. However, Bitcoin’s energy consumption is often offset by its higher security and broader adoption.