Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) exists because of a civil war over how Bitcoin should scale. In 2017, one camp wanted small blocks plus second-layer solutions (the bitcoin we know today); the other wanted bigger blocks on the base chain for cheap everyday payments. The big-blockers forked, and BCH was born.

Every BTC holder on 1 August 2017 received an equal amount of BCH — which is why many Australians first encountered it as an unexpected balance on an exchange account.

BCH is a Proof-of-Work cryptocurrency that shares Bitcoin's code lineage, 21 million supply cap, halving schedule and 10-minute block target — diverging mainly in block size (far larger than Bitcoin's, allowing many more transactions per block) and a different difficulty-adjustment mechanism.

Its stated goal is usable peer-to-peer cash: low fees and reliable confirmation for payments, rather than a store-of-value narrative.

BCH's mechanics mirror Bitcoin's: miners compete to produce SHA-256 blocks, transactions are secured by the chain's cumulative work, and issuance halves roughly every four years.

The crucial differences are bigger blocks (cheaper, less congested transfers at low usage) and an emergency difficulty adjustment designed to keep mining viable when hash rate migrates between BTC and BCH, which share the same mining algorithm.

Bitcoin Cash forked from Bitcoin on 1 August 2017 after years of the “block size war”. Key figures included Roger Ver, an early Bitcoin investor who became BCH's most public advocate.

The BCH camp itself split in November 2018 (creating Bitcoin SV), and saw another small split in 2020. BCH has never regained its launch-era relative strength against BTC, but it has kept a significant user base, merchant acceptance tools, and periodic rally cycles.

BCH mirrors Bitcoin's monetary policy exactly: a 21 million maximum supply, new issuance as block rewards, and quadrennial halvings on the same schedule since both began at block 0's schedule.

Live BCH supply and market-cap data are shown above.

BCH is widely available on AUSTRAC-registered exchanges with AUD deposits via PayID or bank transfer, sitting in the top bracket of tradable assets.

As always, CGT applies on disposal — including any use of BCH for payments, which is a taxable event in Australia.

The structural risk: BCH competes in a lane Bitcoin price-wise dominates and stablecoins utility-wise dominate. It competes for SHA-256 hash rate with a much bigger chain, making its security budget a fraction of Bitcoin's, and its narrative relevance has faded with Layer-2 progress on BTC.

That said, it is liquid, long-lived and follows Bitcoin's rhythm — expect high volatility either way. Never invest more than you can afford to lose.