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Bitcoin (BTC) vs Bitcoin Cash (BCH)… They might share the same name, but they are two very separate projects, designs and philosophies. Bitcoin Cash was created after what is known as a Bitcoin “hard fork”, which means the original blockchain split into a new direction due to disagreements within the community, primarily over how to scale the network and handle increasing transaction volumes. Therefore, the two assets share the same code base, but have evolved independently, each with its own unique upgrades and approaches to transaction speeds, costs and decentralization.
In this article, we’ll delve into the story of Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash, explain the Bitcoin hard fork and what prompted the division, and look at some use cases of when Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash would be most appropriate.
The story behind Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash
Bitcoin is the world’s first and best known blockchain and cryptocurrency. The Bitcoin blockchain went live in late 2009 by the pseudonymous developer Satoshi Nakamoto, designed to serve as a decentralized form of digital money, one that is not governed by a central authority, such as a nation or bank, which can be sent and received freely, anywhere in the world. Over time, it has evolved into a store of value and is often referred to as “digital gold”, given its fixed supply of 21 million coins, its resistance to inflation, and its growing role as a hedge against traditional financial instability. Today, bitcoin currency is traded under the ticker BTC and is accepted by a growing number of merchants.
The Bitcoin blockchain functions as a distributed ledger; as a public and transparent record book of all transactions sent and received in bitcoin. Transactions are grouped into blocks and verified by a decentralized network of miners. While highly secure and reliable, the network has faced challenges as it has grown, particularly regarding transaction speed and cost. As adoption grew, so did these concerns. This led to a major turning point in 2017, when a group of businesses and developers came together to propose a new way of doing things, which was not well-received across the board. This disagreement led to what is known as the Bitcoin hard fork.
The Bitcoin hard fork explained
The Bitcoin hard fork occurred in August 2017 and marked a significant turning point in the history of the world’s first cryptocurrency. At the heart of the debate was how Bitcoin should be scaled to accommodate the growing user base and increasing transaction volume. One side of the Bitcoin community supported the idea of maintaining the network’s existing structure, which would prioritize decentralization and security through Layer 2 solutions such as the Lightning Network. The other side, which was made up of developers, miners and businesses, voted to increase the block size limit on the blockchain itself, allowing more transactions to be processed directly on-chain.
When they decided an agreement could not be reached, the result was the Bitcoin hard fork. This permanent split in the Bitcoin blockchain meant that a new version of the software was launched with a larger block size limit (initially 8MB, compared to Bitcoin’s 1MB at the time), giving birth to a new cryptocurrency: Bitcoin Cash (BCH). The creation of Bitcoin Cash was an attempt to stay true to what its proponents saw as the original vision of Bitcoin: fast, low-cost, peer-to-peer digital payments. While BTC has largely evolved into a store of value and investment asset, BCH remains more practical for everyday use, what many refer to as bch cash.
Use cases: When to use Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash
Nowadays, Bitcoin (BTC) is often seen as a long-term investment asset, rather than a fiat alternative for everyday use. Major Bitcoin value movements now hit the headlines, especially in finance, as the world’s first digital currency becomes an increasingly commonplace feature of investor portfolios. Despite the crypto market’s inherent volatility, BTC is seen as a store of value, proving resistant to fluctuations in traditional markets. But Bitcoin is still one of the most common cryptocurrencies for large payments, accounting for the highest value of crypto payments with ForumPay in 2024, as we highlight in our ForumPay Crypto Spending Report 2025.
Bitcoin Cash on the other hand, as described above, was specifically designed to function as a faster, cheaper alternative to Bitcoin, making it more practical for peer-to-peer, everyday payments. Its larger block capacity and lower fees often make it a more attractive alternative to Bitcoin, and is ideal for transforming BCH to cash without incurring costs. For this reason, it is a popular currency choice in regions where banking infrastructure is limited or expensive, such as Africa, Latin America, and Southeast Asia, where users rely on mobile-based payments and seek alternatives to traditional banking systems. As the Bitcoin Cash value remains more accessible than BTC, it also appeals to newcomers seeking a user-friendly gateway into the world of cryptocurrencies.
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