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Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is an alternative to bitcoin and one of the most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world. Created in August 2017 as a hard fork of bitcoin, BCH is designed to offer faster and more affordable transactions than its older brother.
Bitcoin Cash regularly features in the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap, but if you’re thinking of buying BCH, it’s essential to first consider all the factors that could potentially have an impact on its price. To find out what those factors are and the effect they could have on BCH's price, read on.
Learn more Where to buy Bitcoin Cash (BCH)
Coin name | Bitcoin Cash |
Symbol | BCH |
Algorithm type | SHA256 |
Mineable | Yes |
Launch date | 1 August 2017 |
Cryptocurrencies are renowned for their volatility, and they’re also highly complicated assets influenced by myriad internal and external factors. Before buying any cryptocurrency, it’s crucial that you conduct a balanced assessment of the issues that could potentially contribute to a growth or decline in its value.
If you’re thinking of buying BCH, consider the following:
There are several independent development teams working on Bitcoin Cash. On 28 November 2017, one of the leading development teams, Bitcoin ABC, released its Bitcoin Cash roadmap for the next 6-12 months. The developers have been working and communicating with developers and representatives from a variety of different projects, including Bitcoin Unlimited, Bitprim, Nchain, Bitcrust, ElectrumX, Parity and Bitcoin XT. The key priorities outlined in the roadmap are:
The developers then announced plans to schedule a protocol upgrade for 15 May 2018, and a subsequent upgrade for six months later on 15 November 2018. The code and features to be included in the first upgrade will be finalised by 15 February 2018 and are tentatively slated to include:
The competition a currency faces from other similar coins can have a huge influence, either positively or negatively, on its value. As a peer-to-peer currency, Bitcoin Cash faces competition from several other projects, including:
Looking even further into the future, Bitcoin Cash can build on some important strengths but will also face a few key challenges. While it does offer some key advantages over bitcoin, such as faster and cheaper transactions, it will also face stiff competition from a host of other coins, some of which have their own advantages when compared to BCH.
Its future performance will most likely also be linked to the performance of bitcoin. With the shared history and similarities between the two currencies, BCH is in some ways able to trade on bitcoin’s past success and credibility in the cryptocurrency world.
On the other side of this double-edged sword, Bitcoin Cash is a direct competitor to bitcoin and faces the challenge of competing with the world’s biggest cryptocurrency. However, if it can successfully overcome bitcoin’s scalability problems there’s arguably room for growth.
In more general terms, the global cryptocurrency market has experienced a great deal of volatility in recent months. From the highs of November and December 2017 to the correction that followed, the value of BCH and many other cryptos has seen large fluctuations.
With ongoing speculation about increased regulation and oversight, it remains to be seen whether cryptocurrencies will be able to break into the mainstream and offer a viable, widely accepted alternative to fiat currency.
Bitcoin Cash is a very interesting project and, as one of the world’s highest market cap digital currencies, clearly one that many crypto enthusiasts are watching with interest. If it can achieve widespread adoption not only among the cryptocurrency community but also in mainstream society, there may be potential for growth, and it does offer a few key points of difference when compared to bitcoin.
However, it’s far from the only peer-to-peer cryptocurrency out there, and BCH will face fierce competition from bitcoin and several other altcoins in 2018 and beyond. You’ll need to consider the pros and cons of BCH vs the competition, not to mention all the other risks associated with cryptocurrency, before deciding whether or not you should buy BCH.
Image source: Shutterstock
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