On Aug 03, the cryptocurrency industry got a surprise when some of the Bitcoin industry leaders announced a new cryptocurrency forked off original Bitcoin, called Bitcoin Cash. Bitcoin Cash is exactly like Bitcoin with block size limit increase. Similar to Bitcoin, it is peer-to-peer electronic cash for the Internet. It is fully decentralized, with no central bank and requires no trusted third parties to operate.
In a news published by bitcoin.org:
“We are pleased to announce that on August 1st 2017, Bitcoin Cash (BCC) successfully launched.”
Here are some FAQ on Bitcoin Cash published on the bitcoincash.org website.
Is Bitcoin Cash different from 'Bitcoin'?
Yes. Bitcoin Cash is the continuation of the Bitcoin project as peer-to-peer digital cash. It is a fork of the Bitcoin blockchain ledger, with upgraded consensus rules that allow it to grow and scale.
If I own Bitcoin, do I automatically own Bitcoin Cash too?
Yes. Because Bitcoin Cash is a fork of the ledger, that means you own the same amount of Bitcoin Cash as you did Bitcoin at the time of the forking block. However, if your Bitcoins are stored by a third party such as an exchange, then you must inquire with them about your cash.
Why was a fork necessary to create Bitcoin Cash?
The legacy Bitcoin code had a maximum limit of 1MB of data per block, or about 3 transactions per second. Although technically simple to raise this limit, the community could not reach a consensus, even after years of debate.
Which Development Team is In Charge of Bitcoin Cash?
Unlike the previous situation in Bitcoin, there is no one single development team for Bitcoin Cash. There are now multiple independent teams of developers.