[2017-08-11] The Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork Will Show Us Which Coin Is Best

[Eric Cartman]

On August 1, the digital currency Bitcoin split into two derivative currencies, Bitcoin Classic (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). Far from being a “rushed spinoff,” as Blockstream Chief Strategy Officer Samson Mow’s August 7 op-ed in Fortune claims, the split was a long time coming.

The origins of the debate can be traced back to 2010, when a one megabyte per 10 minutes limit was quietly added into the Bitcoin codebase as a spam control measure. Because the value of a bitcoin was so low at the time, trading for pennies each, the limit was intended to prevent would-be attackers from overloading the network with a flood of cheap transactions.

This one simple variable gradually led to the emergence of two competing factions within the Bitcoin industry. One side wanted the limit raised to allow Bitcoin to scale with growing demand, while the other side claimed that allowing Bitcoin to grow too quickly would result in its centralization and shift to corporate control.

As the Bitcoin network grew in popularity, this one megabyte limit started being pushed up against in late 2016, but through organic network growth rather than by a flood of maliciously generated transactions. The result was that Bitcoin found itself unable to absorb increased demand: Every transaction would now be at the expense of another, and a fee bidding war drove the average transaction fee from pennies to a peak of more than $5 in June 2017.

Many worried that such high fees would hinder Bitcoin’s growing adoption and use, disenfranchising most of the world’s actual Bitcoin users, leaving only price speculators and those willing to pay high fees to transact in bitcoin.

After years spent at loggerheads with the other faction, the Bitcoin Cash supporters decided that rather than try to morph Bitcoin to their wishes, they would simply create a split of the ledger and let the market decide. The Bitcoin Classic chain retains the one megabyte limit and the legacy ticker symbol, BTC, while the Bitcoin Cash chain has increased the limit to eight megabytes and adopted a new ticker symbol, BCH (alternatively BCC, depending on who you ask).

Any person holding bitcoin at the time of the split on August 1 received identical amounts of each new coin at the time of the split. If you had one Bitcoin at the end of July, you’d now have one BTC and one BCH in August. Rather than causing a market upset, the split achieved the desirable outcome of allowing both visions of Bitcoin to compete in the free market.

Many have decided to sell one side of the split to buy more of the other side, but more conservative holders can benefit from holding both and refraining from speculation. Preventing either of the two ideologically divided camps from pursuing their vision does no one any favors: Both camps were stuck with a version of Bitcoin they viewed as suboptimal. The split allows each coin to develop and grow in the way its supporters believe to be best.

And the markets seem to agree. The price of both tokens combined is now greater than the price of one Bitcoin before the split. In the long term, expect to see market demand coalesce around one of the two coins. Bitcoin has always belonged to the free market—may the best coin win!

http://fortune.com/2017/08/11/bitcoin-cash-hard-fork-price-date-why/

[TraderTimm]

BCrash is trading at ~7% of BTC's market price.

Their alt-coin is also 1,183 blocks behind BTC's blockchain.

I'd say the market has already shown us which one is "best".

But of course, this won't stop Roger "Deluded Judas" Ver from attempting another scheme to enrich himself.

[Xavofat]

The market will never show us what coin is best.  It'll only show what the majority of money currently perceives to be the best.

If you think that Roger Ver and other whales have too much power over Bitcoin due to their vast amounts of money, you should certainly not draw conclusions based on how much money has supported each side - that would be pure hypocrisy.  I'm sure that the majority of people claiming that BCH is now dead would be certain it was price manipulation if the price was any higher.

My point is that what the market thinks is irrelevant.  What matters is your own thoughts on the merits of each chain.

[Taki]

The market can't show us which crypto-currency is the best. Yes. It is showing us which currency is in demand now and that doesn't mean the currency is the best. You can decide that Bitcoin is the best crypto-currency due to it's high price, but in fact it is not so, bitcoin has many minuses, which other currencies don't, but they are not such popular as bitcoin.

[fancy2973]

The BCC will survive but by no mean it can compete with bitcoin. BCC is just an altcoin like any other.

[alani123]

Economy and miners are already showing us which coin has the largest following, but that's not to say that BCash is completely deal. Speculators are keeping it alive and partly profitable for miners as well. If it weren't for people looking to profit I don't think it'd hold up for so long.

[SvenBomvolen]

The BCC will survive but by no mean it can compete with bitcoin. BCC is just an altcoin like any other.

Bitcoin Cash has appeared like a babble which is popped already. I suppose BCC has no chance to pump on the same level as at the day of it's appearance. It's future to become lost among other altcoins. I regret now I didn't sell it when the price was high, but unfortunately that time I didn't knew that there are exchangers that allow BCC deposit on that first-second of August.

[landslide]

The market already showed BCC is inferior. It may survive but not going to come close to BTC.

[InvoKing]

The market already showed BCC is inferior. It may survive but not going to come close to BTC.

It is born to be an altcoin and it will rest an altcoin and people should see it like this. The only thing that have in common with bitcoin comparing to the rest of altcoins is that its name has the bitcoin word. That's all.
Well it may have a similar future rise as ethereum? We will see 

[Xavofat]

The market already showed BCC is inferior. It may survive but not going to come close to BTC.

To reiterate - the market does not show shit.  The only thing it shows is what the market thinks.  That means that it's prone to manipulation from rich people - the market is not a democracy.

Actually, while you're at it why don't you quit Bitcoin altogether and go to fiat, since the market has clearly shown it prefers traditional investments over Bitcoin?  In the dot-com bubble you would have bought in because "the market has shown that e-commerce is good".

People should not follow the market because the market does not follow people.

The only thing that have in common with bitcoin comparing to the rest of altcoins is that its name has the bitcoin word.

Apart from the fact that it shares the entire Bitcoin blockchain until less than two weeks ago.

[bbc.reporter]

The survival of the bitcoincash blockchain will depend on how much more losses the miners can take. According to Coin Dance, it is 73% more profitable to mine the original chain.

https://cash.coin.dance/blocks

Sooner or later some of these miners would have to give up and go back bitcoin. Does anyone know how much those miners are losing per day?

[TravelMug]

BCrash is trading at ~7% of BTC's market price.

Their alt-coin is also 1,183 blocks behind BTC's blockchain.

I'd say the market has already shown us which one is "best".

But of course, this won't stop Roger "Deluded Judas" Ver from attempting another scheme to enrich himself.

Agreed, BTC already shows us who will be the King at the end and BCC has offer no challenge yet. I believed that those who are really behind this altcoin will put everything is their power to claim the no. 1, unfortunately, all their offense will go for nothing. BTC has already reigned supreme and people like us who is behind it will keep supporting it because we have trusted it for long and will not easily shift to an altcoin which aim is just to profit them. So I don't think BCC can claim anything in the future other than simply an "aternative to bitcoin".