Bitcoin Cash. So what?!
Alright so Bitcoin Cash (BCC) miners demonstrated they could mine an 8 MB block. Congratulations. Now lets move on please.
Seriously.
Yes it is a good technological step for the cryptocurrency. But this is the reason why it hard forked in the first place. The 2 differentiating factors from BCC compared to Bitcoin (BTC) now are:
- Segwit not implemented
- 8 MB blocksizes vs 1 MB
Apart from the drawbacks this has in terms of data still being stored on the blockchain, I see two main problems with BCC:
- The mining power is centralized and is therefore very susceptible to a 51% attack. Would you trust your investments in a currency that can be attacked at any time? The blockchain is supposed to be decentralized and trustless! However with mining in BCC becoming more profitable, this issue may be solved in the near future.
- The other and more fundamental problem I see with BCC is that it is too similar to BTC. There are numerous cryptos already out there that offer a superior technology than both BTC and BCC. If investing in other than BTC, why not invest in any of those instead of a clone with some tweaks and which is still suffering from old technology and legacy issues that cannot be easily resolved without starting from scratch. Many altcoins indeed have taken on board the lessons learnt in the BTC project and are in a position to offer a better product. Some offer smart contracts, some offer privacy, others offer faster transaction or settlement speed and so forth. Or they even offer a combination of these and other attributes.
The one thing that is keeping BTC the unrivaled #1 in the crypto world is the first mover advantage and the associated fame it has accumulated over the years. Most potential investors have heard of Bitcoin. Other currencies? Not that well known. Yet.
Sure BCC has been in the news a lot during the fork and will gain attention during its rise up these days. But is that enough to beat BTC in the longer term? While I argue this BCC has peaked above $700. And BTC has dipped further.
Long-term though I have my doubts about BCC overtaking BTC.
The question I am asking then is this: Do we need another bitcoin clone with some tweaks? Or should we invest in coins that offer something better?
There are lots of alternatives out there. With far better technology than BCC is offering...
References:
https://www.cnbc.com/2017/08/18/bitcoin-cash-surges-as-investors-bet-on-its-faster-processing-speeds.html
https://www.coindesk.com/bitcoin-cash-closes-profitability-parity-original-blockchain/
Images:
https://bitcoinexchangeguide.com/bcc-vs-btc/
https://bittrex.com/Market/Index?MarketName=BTC-BCC
Bitcoin in it's infancy has always been Turing Complete - We just couldn't see it...didn't understand the math. Still working on the math myself. But some people get it....Enter Bitcoin Cash. First Step was surviving a difficult birth. Everyday it lives it gets stronger. Could see some massive developments.
Bitcoin Cash - BCH - Everything is In Reverse!?
Free Market Plays Going on Here
"Buckle Your Seat Belt Dorothy, Because Kansas is Going Bye Bye"
Read your post as well. Interesting indeed. However I am still of the opinion that other currencies offer better alternatives than BCC. Unless BCC is to become 'the real Bitcoin'.
Thanks for responding, really appreciate it!
I think the whole reason BCH ever got as much attention as it did was because of timing, significant hash power at inception, shiny object syndrome (people love hype) and free BCH. Also read and replied to your post. Love the John Galt reference lol.
There are three selling points with Bitcoin Cash as compared with other alts:
I have become wary of the Bitcoin Cash project (it eases the pressure on my favorite proposal: SegWit2X . The ultimate goal of Bitcoin Cash is the destruction of Bitcoin (aka SegWitCoin) - and I believe that will be bad for all crypto in general, even though Bitcoin Cash would take over the throne). That said, I do tend to believe the FlexTrans proposal is sweeter than the SegWit proposal.
My prediction: Bitcoin Cash will either be the new Bitcoin by new year, or it will have an insignificant market price compared to Bitcoin.
thank you for your vote and comments. I appreciate the detailed reply. I also think some miners will switch to BCH as long as it is significantly more profitable to do so.
With regards to the shared addresses, is that really an advantage. I think it may confuse people more possibly. And I am not sure if BCH will indeed be easily implemented by merchants. Although technically feasible, still probably reluctant until it really takes over from BTC.
Many people i know who held BTC during the fork sold their BCH. Maybe it is not as widespread as i think though and there is an interest to get BCH working.
I agree with your last statement, BTC or BCH will lead, there can not be 2 with the same market cap eventually. And of course I think it will be BTC ;)
Again thanks for commenting!
What noobs are not realizing is that this increase in profitability for BCC mining is temporary. Eventually the difficulty will adjust and balance out on both chains. With Segwit on the pipeline and the many layer 2 solutions it brings I wouldn't bet all my eggs on BCC. I'd rather keep my stake planted in both chains and sleep well at night. Betting on just one could backfire badly
If all miners could change chain instantly, and if all miners would always optimize for the best short-term profitability, then Bitcoin Cash would soon be a winner and Bitcoin would be dead. Without miners on the Bitcoin chain, we'll never get to the next difficulty readjustment checkpoint, and it will forever be "too difficult" to mine bitcoin. This is the selling point of Bitcoin Cash.
The Bitcoin Cash fanatics strongly hope that this will take place. Personally I believe most mining pools will stick to Bitcoin, there are too much stake at hand - if Bitcoin ("SegWitCoin") was to die, it would take years before Bitcoin Cash gets into the same position as Bitcoin is today. We'll probably see a certain percentage of the mining power flip-flopping between the chains every time one of them gets more profitable than the other, though.
Seeing the mining difficulty chart at https://bitcoinwisdom.com/bitcoin/difficulty there seems to be an insignificant amount of defections from Bitcoin mining, so this far my prediction has been right. Of course, there is quite some inertia, we'll see what happens Monday - but I predict the Bitcoin Cash value will fall unless a significant amount of miners are changing horse on Monday.
Completely agree. It will even out very soon.
I would sleep better with a few of these BCC. Not buying them now anymore though.
Who would have seen this coming! I thought BCC was done for!
Haha yes same here. I guess in this crypto market anything is possible.
Another well-written post, @attalis. I share your perspective on bitcoin cash being a copy-cat basically, only changing a few things from the original bitcoin, like many other altcoins do.
Will it survive long-term? Probably. Will it overtake BTC? Probably not.
The only major competitive cryptocurrency of any kind that has a chance to overtake BTC as the top contender, I believe, will be a platform-based crypto filling in the gaps that still exist.
Another important factor you brought up:
If you're going to release a fork or new blockchain, at least spread the wealth out. Allow other miners to get on board. Napoleon complex much? :)
Thanks Tunnelrat, appreciate the comment. Guess we are on the same page on this one. Which alts are you liking at the minute?
Still holding my UNO of course. The altcoins that interest me most right now are platform based actually. I can see them having a strong future with mass adoption of blockchain tech applies. As we get blockchain-based social media, e-commerce and the likes built with DAPPs or otherwise.
Just looking into SCL, which is still in ICO, it's the Social coin for Nexus platform I just read about on this post by @sanees today. Seems to be designed to cater to the Facebook crowd.
Library (LBC) also looks like a good concept in the early stages, but development and UI seem a little slow. That is a Proof of Storage model for sharing media.
Another platform is NXT, while a lot like ETH, the proof of stake requires a significant amount of NXT to forge a block; upwards of 1,000. It is a Java-based wallet.
I am still holding a little Lisk (LSK) and looking forward to EOS, being a @dan project.
Trouble with most altcoins is that they are currencies, which will most likely never compete with bitcoin. Introduce a platform that is scalable while distributing wealth on an equal (or fair play) basis that third-world users can profit from and you have something.
What do you think? I'm sure there are plenty more out there like NEO that I haven't looked into yet, hard to keep track. :)
Indeed BCC seems more like a tweaked version of BTC. That does not mean it cannot be a good ( stable) & reliable altcoin. But Litecoin already is a tweaked version of Bitcoin?
Yeah sort of, different algorithm and 4 times faster block times though. It also has segwit activated already also ;)
This is extraordinary!
Upvoted. I liked this one.
Thanks!
SO say that BitcoinCash does gain some more traction, there aren't any markets that deal solely in BCH such as we have BTC/ETH/USD markets. Poloniex even has a XMR market and USDT. Until people can actually use BCH for something other than speculating on it will remain an alt-coin in my book.
Agree fully. And they cant spend it anywhere either...
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I enjoyed your post mate, but you should really call Bitcoin Cash by its true symbol of "BCH" so as not to confuse anyone, because BCC is technically the BitConnect token symbol.
Yes you're right, I guess i am too influenced by Worldcoinindex. Should try to stay away a bit more from that site ;)
Ha ha, yeah, it's confusing.