What is Bitcoin Cash?

Bitcoin Cash is a cryptocurrency that shares many of the same characteristics as Bitcoin yet also integrates a number of changes and features that set it apart. It is considered a 'fork' of Bitcoin, although proponents argue that Bitcoin Cash more closely adheres to the original vision of creating a peer-to-peer electronic cash. Bitcoin Cash is a type of cryptocurrency created to address some scalability issues that Bitcoin faces.

The purpose of Bitcoin Cash is to address the scalability issues that Bitcoin faces, by increasing the network's capacity. It aims to decentralize crypto and improve transaction efficiency, allowing for faster and cheaper transactions. Its use cases include financial transactions with smart contract capabilities, allowing for some level of programmability.

Bitcoin Cash is built on the same blockchain as Bitcoin, but with an increased block size. The coin launched on Aug. 1, 2017 through a so-called 'hard fork' of the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Cash aims to bring decentralization back to cryptocurrency, and is the result of a 'hard fork', which occurs when an existing blockchain is split into two separate chains.

Bitcoin Cash differentiates itself from competitors by increasing the block size to 32MB, enabling faster and cheaper transactions. This is a competitive advantage over Bitcoin, which can only handle a certain number of transactions at a time. However, its use cases are limited compared to other cryptocurrencies.