How to Buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Beginner’s Guide
What is Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin Cash is a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that aims to become sound global money with fast payments, micro fees, privacy, and high transaction capacity (big blocks). In the same way that physical money, such as a dollar bill, is handed directly to the person being paid, Bitcoin Cash payments are sent directly from one person to another. As a permissionless, decentralized cryptocurrency, Bitcoin Cash requires no trusted third parties and no central bank. Unlike traditional fiat money, Bitcoin Cash does not depend on monetary middlemen such as banks and payment processors. Transactions cannot be censored by governments or other centralized corporations. Similarly, funds cannot be seized or frozen — because financial third parties have no control over the Bitcoin Cash network. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is an alternative to the oldest and most traded cryptocurrency – Bitcoin (BTC), only the BCH network is much faster and cheaper. In 2017, BCH developers modified the BTC code, releasing their own version of the software and a full-fledged competitive product, which split Bitcoin into two blockchains: Bitcoin / Bitcoin Cash, and consecutively, two assets – BTC / BCH. Bitcoin Cash is a clear result of a hard fork in blockchain. Moreover, another hard fork, which divided Bitcoin Cash into two parts: Bitcoin ABC and Bitcoin SV, took place in the fall of 2018.
How to Buy Bitcoin Cash Summary
- Get a Bitcoin Cash wallet (e.g. Ledger, Trezor , Exodus, Guarda, AtomicWallet)
- Find an exchange that sells Bitcoin Cash(e.g. Crypto.com, Binance , Coinbase , Bitfinex , Kucoin)
- Deposit money and make the trade
- Withdraw the Bitcoin Cash to your wallet
Buying Bitcoin Cash in 3 Simple Steps
Step 1 – Get a BCH wallet
Bitcoin Cash Hardware Wallets
The best option for storing any cryptocurrency would be to use a hardware wallet. These are pieces of hardware that store the private key to your coins offline.
Today, there are two leading hardware manufacturers to choose from – Ledger and TREZOR. Both companies have different models of hardware wallets that will get the job done.
If you want deeper insights on specific models, you can read my Ledger Nano X review or my TREZOR Model T review.
Bitcoin Cash Software Wallets
Hardware wallets cost money, so if you’re not sure how serious you are about cryptocurrencies and just want to get a taste of what they feel like, perhaps you would be better off starting with a software wallet.
A software wallet is a free program that lets you store your coins on your computer or mobile phone.
The easiest Bitcoin Cash software wallets to get started with are undoubtedly Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda . All wallets are very intuitive. Exodus, Atomic Wallet and Guarda is available on desktop for Windows, Mac and Linux, as well as on mobile for both iOS and Android. If you want more information you can read my Exodus, AtomicWallet and Guarda review.
Step 2 – Find an Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Exchange
Buy Bitcoin Cash through Crypto.com
- Crypto.com is a cryptocurrency exchange company based in Singapore. As of May 2022, the company reportedly had 50 million customers and 4,000 employees. The exchange issues a token, Cronos. The company was initially founded in Hong Kong by Bobby Bao, Gary Or, Kris Marszalek, and Rafael Melo in 2016 as “Monaco”. In 2018, the company was renamed as Crypto.com following a purchase of a domain owned by cryptography researcher and professor Matt Blaze. Domain sellers valued the domain at US$5–10 million.
Buy Bitcoin Cash through Binance
- Binance is a cryptocurrency exchange which is the largest exchange in the world in terms of daily trading volume of cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2017 and is registered in the Cayman Islands. Binance was founded by Changpeng Zhao, a developer who had previously created high frequency trading software.
Buy Bitcoin Cash through Bitfinex
- Bitfinex is a cryptocurrency exchange owned and operated by iFinex Inc registered in the British Virgin Islands.Their customers’ money has been stolen or lost in several incidents, and they have been unable to secure normal banking relationships. Bitfinex was founded in December 2012 as a peer-to-peer Bitcoin exchange, offering digital asset trading services to users around the world. Bitfinex initially started as a P2P margin lending platform for Bitcoin and later added support for more cryptocurrencies.
Buy Bitcoin Cash through Bybit
- The exchange prides itself on delivering multilingual online support to its customers and is committed to providing a transparent and efficient trading experience. The products on the platform include BTC/USD, ETH/USD, LTC/USD, and XRP/USD perpetual contracts. A perpetual contract resembles a traditional futures contract in many ways. Its main difference, however, is that it doesn’t have an expiry date. Hence, traders are allowed to hold their positions for as long as they need to.Moreover, the exchange boasts a 100,000 TPS state-of-the-art matching engine. While many of its competitors have suffered from repeated overload problems, this high-performance matching engine makes it possible for Bybit to stand above the competition.The Bybit cryptocurrency broker platform is operated by the Bybit Fintech Limited which is registered on the British Virgin Islands, with headquarters in Singapore. The company was launched in March 2018, making it a fairly young player on the market.
Buy Bitcoin Cash through Kucoin
- Kucoin is a global cryptocurrency exchange for numerous digital assets and cryptocurrencies. Launched in September 2017, KuCoin has grown into one of the most popular crypto exchanges and already has over 8 million registered users from 700+ countries and regions. According to Alexa traffic ranking, KuCoin’s monthly unique ranking is in the top 5 globally. Known as the “People’s Exchange”, KuCoin operates in Seychelles, providing users with multi-language and 24/7 customer service. Meanwhile, KuCoin has established local communities all over the world in South Korea, Japan, Spain, Italy, Vietnam, Turkey, Russia, India, and other regions, providing users with the most local services. Currently, 1 out of every 4 crypto holders in the world is with KuCoin.
Step 3 – Withdraw Your Bitcoin Cash
Once you decide on an exchange, open an account and buy your Bitcoin Cash . Make sure to withdraw the Bitcoin Cash from the exchange to your personal wallet. Never leave coins on an exchange, as you risk losing them all if that exchange gets hacked or shuts down (which has happened in the past) and always double check address before send coins because you can send the coins to wrong address .
Overview
What Is Bitcoin Cash Used for?
Bitcoin Cash is used as a digital currency for everyday transactions, as well as a store of value and investment. BCH is accepted by merchants and businesses as a form of payment for goods and services. It can also be bought and sold on cryptocurrency exchanges, and used to purchase other cryptocurrencies. Additionally, some individuals see Bitcoin Cash as a hedge against inflation and a way to store their wealth. Just like Bitcoin, it can be stored in a digital wallet and transferred directly to others, anywhere in the world, without the need for intermediaries.
Bitcoin Cash combines gold-like scarcity with the spendable nature of cash. With a limited total supply of 21 million coins, Bitcoin Cash is provably scarce and, like physical cash, can be easily spent. Transactions are fast with transaction fees typically less than a tenth of a cent. Anybody can accept Bitcoin Cash payments with a smartphone or computer.
Bitcoin Cash has various use cases. In addition to peer-to-peer payments between individuals, Bitcoin Cash can be used to pay participating merchants for goods and services in-store and online. Very low fees enable new micro-transaction economies, such as tipping content creators and rewarding app users a few cents. Bitcoin Cash also reduces the fees and settlement times for remittances and cross-border trade. Other use cases include tokens, simplified smart contracts, and private payments with tools such as CashShuffle and CashFusion.
Is Bitcoin Cash different from Bitcoin?
Yes, Bitcoin Cash is different from Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash was created as a result of a hard fork in the Bitcoin blockchain in 2017, and it aims to offer faster and cheaper transactions than Bitcoin. The main differences between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash are:
Block size limit: Bitcoin Cash has a larger block size limit (32 MB), which allows for faster and cheaper transactions.
Transaction speed: Bitcoin Cash aims to process transactions faster than Bitcoin.
Fees: Bitcoin Cash has lower transaction fees compared to Bitcoin, making it more accessible for users with smaller transactions.
Purpose: Bitcoin Cash is seen by some as a more practical and usable form of digital currency for everyday transactions, while Bitcoin is more commonly used as a store of value and investment.
Development community: Bitcoin Cash has a separate and distinct development community from Bitcoin, with its own priorities and goals.
Despite these differences, both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash use a decentralized system for recording transactions and are based on the same basic principles of blockchain technology.
How do you mine Bitcoin Cash?
Mining Bitcoin Cash involves using specialized computer hardware to validate and process transactions on the BCH network, and in return, receive block rewards in the form of newly minted BCH. The process of mining involves solving complex mathematical problems, and the first miner to solve the problem is rewarded with a block reward and the transaction fees associated with the processed transactions.
Here are the steps to mine Bitcoin Cash:
Set up a BCH wallet: Before you start mining, you need a place to store your BCH rewards. You can set up a BCH wallet on your computer or mobile device.
Choose a mining pool: Joining a mining pool increases your chances of earning BCH rewards as it allows you to combine your computing power with others.
Obtain mining hardware: You need specialized computer hardware to mine BCH. This includes ASIC miners or GPUs.
Download and install mining software: The mining software will connect you to the mining pool and allows you to start mining BCH.
Start mining: Once you have set up your hardware, wallet and software, you can start mining BCH. The mining software will automatically begin solving mathematical problems, and once solved, you will receive a share of the block rewards and transaction fees.
It’s important to note that mining Bitcoin Cash, or any cryptocurrency, can be an energy-intensive process, and requires a significant investment in hardware and electricity costs. Before you start mining, make sure to assess the costs and feasibility of mining BCH.