Bitcoin Cash is a derivative of Bitcoin, created through a hard fork aimed at enhancing on-chain transaction capacity. It strives to maintain the spirit of Bitcoin without the implementation of Segregated Witness (SegWit), relying mainly on hard forks for protocol improvements while preserving the original economic principles of Bitcoin.
Launched on August 1, 2017, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) emerged as an evolved version of the Bitcoin Core software. One of its most significant enhancements is the increase in the block size limit from 1MB to 8MB. This expansion enables miners on the BCH network to handle up to eight times more transactions per second than Bitcoin, leading to quicker and more cost-effective transactions, thus enhancing the overall user experience.
The creation of Bitcoin Cash was driven by a desire to restore the fundamental characteristics of money that were present in Bitcoin’s original design. Over time, these attributes were diminished within Bitcoin Core, hindered by various stakeholders involved in its development. Consequently, Bitcoin Core became less viable as a monetary system due to skyrocketing transaction fees and prolonged transfer times, primarily attributed to the 1MB block size limitation that failed to support a growing volume of transactions.
In essence, Bitcoin Cash represents a community-driven upgrade of Bitcoin, designed to address the scalability challenges that Bitcoin Core faces today by increasing the block size to 8MB. On November 16, 2018, a contentious split, often referred to as a "hashwar," led to the division between Bitcoin SV and Bitcoin ABC, further diversifying the landscape of Bitcoin derivatives.