Bitcoin Cash is a direct fork of Bitcoin, and thus, its basic technical characteristics are similar to Bitcoin in many respects. However, Bitcoin Cash has several distinct features that differ from Bitcoin, significantly influencing its performance and usability. This article explores the technical characteristics of Bitcoin Cash in detail.
Block Size
One of the most significant features of Bitcoin Cash is its larger block size. Initially, Bitcoin Cash set its block size to 8MB, later increasing it to 32MB. This increase allows Bitcoin Cash to process a significantly higher number of transactions at once, reduce transaction confirmation times, and enable more users to use the network simultaneously.
Difficulty Adjustment Algorithm (DAA)
Bitcoin Cash employs a different difficulty adjustment algorithm than Bitcoin. While Bitcoin adjusts its difficulty approximately every two weeks (or every 2016 blocks), Bitcoin Cash adjusts its difficulty for each block. This ensures that the time to generate blocks remains constant, even with significant fluctuations in hash rate.
Non-adoption of Segwit
Bitcoin Cash does not adopt Segwit (Segregated Witness), introduced in Bitcoin. Segwit is an update aimed at using block capacity more efficiently by separating a portion of the transaction data from the block. However, Bitcoin Cash chose not to adopt this and instead addressed scaling issues by increasing block size.
Summary
The technical characteristics of Bitcoin Cash significantly impact its performance and usability. Its large block size, difficulty adjustment algorithm, and non-adoption of Segwit are key elements in understanding how Bitcoin Cash differs from Bitcoin. These features are crucial indicators of Bitcoin Cash’s position in the rapidly changing cryptocurrency market.