Ever wanted to know how to buy Bitcoin Cash? You’re in the right place. This is because we’ve created this awesome guide that explains all of the pros and cons of Bitcoin Cash trading.
So what is Bitcoin Cash? It’s actually a fork of Bitcoin. But there are a few differences that you should be aware of before you dismiss Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as just another altcoin. Our guide to Bitcoin Cash trading discovered that this coin offers faster transaction times and lower fees than other major competitors.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was developed out of necessity. After eight years of rapid success, Bitcoin trading came upon a big problem. This was the cryptocurrency’s slow transaction times. Transactions taking place on the Bitcoin network are completely outpaced by traditional payment methods such as those featured by a credit card company.
This problem occurred due to the fact that Bitcoin was never created to be able to scale effectively. As the number of Bitcoin users have increased, the number of calculations needed to authorise the transactions has dramatically pushed up waiting times. While the basic technology of the Bitcoin blockchain ledger has remained the same, it has failed to anticipate that there would be hundreds of thousands of Bitcoin transactions every day.
As a result, part of the Bitcoin community convened in 2017 to arrange a ‘hard fork’ in the cryptocurrency. This basically created two separate cryptocurrencies – the original Bitcoin and the new Bitcoin Cash. The newer variant of Bitcoin Cash was similar to the standard version of Bitcoin, but included a few important differences in an attempt to solve the scalability issues.
In many ways, Bitcoin Cash was seen as being a software upgrade to the original cryptocurrency. But both cryptocurrencies have grown side-by-side and both give you plenty to think about when you buy crypto online or just searching for the best cryptocurrency to invest in.
Bitcoin Cash came into existence on 1 August 2017. The ‘hard fork’ of Bitcoin split the cryptocurrency into two and Bitcoin Cash trading got underway. Initial trades of Bitcoin Cash were valued at $240 in contrast to regular Bitcoin which was selling for $2,700.
The fact that Bitcoin Cash had seemingly solved the scalability issues led many to hope that it would surpass the original cryptocurrency. Not only does Bitcoin Cash have its own blockchain, but it has an increased block size of 8 MB. This aims to help the speed of verification. This has meant that the waiting times are swifter for Bitcoin Cash payments, and it’s also been noted that transaction fees for this crypto tend to be lower than that of standard Bitcoin.
While Bitcoin Cash held a huge amount of promise, as yet it has never managed to replace the original Bitcoin. Plus Bitcoin Cash even split into two further cryptocurrencies in November 2018. The resultant Bitcoin SV once again promised quicker transactions and improved scalability. This was a result of further increases to the block size, and to this day it looks like the ‘civil war’ between the different Bitcoins has yet to be resolved.
Bitcoin Cash has grown to be a widely respected cryptocurrency. While it never managed to really rival Bitcoin in popularity, the fact that Bitcoin Cash trading reached a market cap of $7.55 billion in January 2021 is a testament to its success.
If you want to buy Bitcoin Cash, it’s good to remember that it experiences a similar level of volatility to other cryptos such as we found in our Binance Coin review. For example, last year the Bitcoin Cash price sank to below $200 at one point, but less than nine months later, it had managed to recover to be beyond $600.
This is some way short of the record high of Bitcoin Cash of $3,785, but it shows that there’s plenty to be gained from some smart trades of this crypto. Plus with nearly 200,000 transactions in Bitcoin Cash every 24 hours, it looks like there are plenty of people who haven’t given up on this Bitcoin fork.
Much has been made of the differences between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash. But if you decided to buy Bitcoin Cash, you’d realise that it works in pretty much the same way as the original cryptocurrency. This means that you could use Bitcoin Cash to buy products and services, trade it for other cryptos, or anything else that you’d expect to do with a cryptocurrency. This includes Bitcoin Cash mining, and the crypto has a supply limit of 21,000,000.
The first major difference that you’d notice would be that Bitcoin Cash transactions seem to be a little faster. This is due to the fact that Bitcoin Cash blocks are 8MB as opposed to just 1MB for regular Bitcoin. The faster transaction times might not make that much of a difference to how you trade, but overall, they could add up to have a significant effect in the growth of Bitcoin Cash.
You’d probably also notice that any transaction fees for trading Bitcoin Cash were slightly less. With a current average transaction fee of $0.002355, it shows that Bitcoin Cash offers a cost-effective way to trade.
While the larger block size of Bitcoin Cash has improved its processing speed, it has raised concerns about the cryptocurrency’s security. As yet, Bitcoin Cash has yet to suffer a security breach like the one that we discovered in our review Ethereum trading. But such concerns won’t help perceptions of Bitcoin Cash on the crypto markets.
It’s also worth noting that the relatively limited popularity of Bitcoin Cash has meant that liquidity remains an issue for the cryptocurrency. Plus there simply aren’t as many real-world uses of Bitcoin Cash as you’d get for the likes of Bitcoin. Despite these reservations, most crypto fans will find that Bitcoin Cash can be used in similar ways to the majority of cryptocurrencies.
If you’ve ever tried something like Litecoin trading, you’ll quickly see how simple it is to buy Bitcoin Cash. It works just like investing in any other cryptocurrency. But just in case you are brand new to crypto trading, here’s how you get started in buying and selling Bitcoin Cash.
As Bitcoin Cash is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, it shouldn’t take you too much effort to find a trading site that lets you buy and sell this crypto. But it’s essential that you research which crypto trading site you use. After all, you will be giving this site access to some fairly sensitive personal information. We’d recommend only using those crypto trading sites that are regulated by the UK’s Financial Conduct Authority. Don’t forget that we’ve been reviewing the biggest crypto trading sites that you’re likely to use. This means that you’ll see what kind of service you’ll get along with important regarding transaction fees, trading times and so on.
All crypto trading sites will require that you set up an account. It doesn’t matter whether you want to buy Bitcoin Cash, buy Ethereum, or buy XRP, as you’ll have to register an account before you do anything. Thankfully, this is normally a fairly painless experience, as you’ll just have to provide your email address and then create a username and password. Once you’ve done this, you’ll have to verify your account. This means providing some more personal information such as your name, address, date of birth and so on.
After your account has been verified, you’ll be ready to make a deposit. Most trading sites will allow you to add funds to your account either with another cryptocurrency or with a regular fiat currency such as British pounds.
Once the money is in your account, you’ll be ready to go to the trading site’s cryptocurrencies page. This will reveal all of the current market values of Bitcoin Cash, Bitcoin, Ether, Litecoin, XRP and so on. Remember that Bitcoin Cash might be displayed as BCH. You’ll also be given information about any significant price rises or falls over the past 24 hours. Don’t forget to read some Bitcoin Cash trading reviews to make sure that you’re not about to buy just before a massive drop in value. Once you’ve made your choice, then you should be able to just click on a ‘Buy’ tab next to Bitcoin Cash, and then select how many units you’d like to purchase. After you submit your order, you’ll find that the Bitcoin Cash should be in your account in just a matter of minutes.
Like all cryptocurrencies, Bitcoin Cash has suffered a fair amount of volatility over its relatively short history. The fact that this cryptocurrency can go from an all-time high of $3,785 to less than $200 might give you enough reasons not to buy Bitcoin Cash.
But it’s important to note that volatility isn’t all about those dramatic losses. If you use the best Bitcoin Cash trading practices, your investments could see some impressive gains over a very short amount of time.
The overriding view is that the value of Bitcoin Cash will continue to grow. At the time of writing this guide, the Bitcoin Cash price was 50% more valuable than when the cryptocurrency was first released.
This might not sound too impressive compared to the rise of Bitcoin. But if Bitcoin does go on to encounter scalability issues, then our Bitcoin Cash prediction is that this crypto’s value would swiftly skyrocket.
In some ways, Bitcoin Cash has managed to escape some of the negativity that surrounds many larger cryptocurrencies. It’s never suffered a major hacking incident like Ethereum, and it simply doesn’t attract the same level of scams as the likes of Bitcoin. As a result, Bitcoin Cash can be seen as a relatively safe investment.
The prevailing opinion across the internet remains that Bitcoin Cash is a good trading option. Some people have suggested that the increased block size of Bitcoin Cash could mean that its security could be compromised. But this has never been proven in reality and shouldn’t stop you if you decided to buy Bitcoin Cash.
By now you should have all you need to know to make an informed decision about whether you should buy Bitcoin Cash. There is no doubt that this cryptocurrency hasn’t taken off in the way that many of its supporters would have hoped. But equally, Bitcoin Cash has picked up many fans and remains one of the most popular cryptocurrencies.
Above all, Bitcoin Cash represents another decent option to consider for anybody who wants to get into trading. With faster transaction speeds and lower processing fees than that of Bitcoin, it could work out to be good value for money. Although there are some security concerns, as yet there has never been a major successful hack of Bitcoin Cash.
We’re not in the position to offer investment advice, and it’s worth noting that the volatility of Bitcoin Cash could cause you to lose your entire investment. But this is equally true of any cryptocurrency, and it’s all about making sensible trading decisions. But with plenty of thought given into the creation of Bitcoin Cash, we’re sure that we haven’t heard the last of this promising cryptocurrency
Trading financial products carries a high risk to your capital, especially trading leverage products such as CFDs. CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. Between 74-89% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading CFDs. You should consider whether you understand how CFDs work and whether you can afford to take the high risk of losing your money.
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