Is Bitcoin Cash a Failure?

 It is now nearly 17 months since the contentious fork that resulted in the birth of Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Looking back at this we may ask, how has the scheme faired? Can it be regarded as a success? Looking at the current metrics, it may be safe to reach the conclusion that the whole purpose of the hard fork that gave rise to BCH may have actually been defeated.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Price Today – BCH / USD

NamePrice
bitcoin
Bitcoin
$0.00
bitcoin-cash
Bitcoin Cash
$0.00

This, in essence, renders Bitcoin Cash (BCH) as little more than just an altcoin. Following an examination of the 500+ days worth of data available on the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Blockchain, we will find that despite the impassioned arguments or big promises made regarding its 8 MB block size, the digital asset has never really come close to fulfilling its proposed capacity.

According to data published by Coinmetrics, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) remains way behind Bitcoin (BTC) in proportional and absolute terms as miners and users have overwhelmingly decided to remain with top digital asset Bitcoin (BTC). The market has given its verdict on Bitcoin Cash over the last 17 months amid brief spikes in prices.

Bitcoin (BTC) Remains King of All Cryptos

It would appear that the fork that resulted in the birth of Bitcoin Cash (BCH) which occurred amidst a polarising argument regarding whether to maintain Bitcoin’s (BTC) original 1 MB block size has become an exercise in futility. It has to be said that the primary idea behind the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was reportedly to deliver a faster and more straightforward way to complete transactions using a bigger block size as solution, the crypto market has spoken on the last 17 months since the Bitcoin Cash fork and the conclusion it reached isn’t good news for BCH.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Has Averaged a 171KB Block Size Since the 2017 Fork

The data on Bitcoin Cash published by Coinmetrics shows that apart from being far from fulfilling or getting anywhere near its 8 MB block size, the digital asset had reportedly averaged a block size of 171 KB since August 2017 when the fork occurred. Bitcoin (BTC), on the other hand, when compared to BCH, has averaged 934 KB of its intended 1 MB block capacity in the past month alone.

In other words, we can agree that BCH is using 2.1% of its block capacity going on to averaging 18% of Bitcoin’s block size despite the fact that it has forked with the sole purpose of building larger blocks. Notwithstanding any protests contrary to this, there is a huge lack of interest in BCH, which has been the case with every Bitcoin fork.

Only Once Has BCH Block Size Rose to 50%

To date, there has been just a single day that Bitcoin Cash block size managed to rise to 50%. This occurred on January 9, last year when BCH block size hit 59% of the 8 MB capacity briefly before rapidly reverting. Even more obvious from a market view point, Bitcoin Cash has actually not fared better in terms of investment. It has only managed to reach about 3.6% of the market capitalization of Bitcoin (BTC).

Princess Ogono is a writer, lawyer and fitness enthusiast. She believes cryptocurrencies are the future. When she's not writing, she spends time with her adorable cat, Ginger and works out often.

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