On 1[SUP]st[/SUP] August 2017, Bitcoin’s blockchain forked; meaning a different cryptocurrency was created called bitcoin cash (BCC/BCH), another peer-to-peer electronic cash. The symbol for bitcoin cash has not been agreed upon and some use BCC while others use BCH to denote bitcoin cash.
The way a fork works is; rather than creating a new cryptocurrency (and blockchain) beginning at the first block, a fork simply creates a duplicate version that shares the same history. So all previous transactions on bitcoin cash’s brand-new blockchain are identical to bitcoin core’s blockchain, with future transactions and balances being entirely independent of each other.
For practical matters, all this implies is that everybody who owned bitcoin before the fork now has the same quantity of bitcoin cash that is recorded in bitcoin cash’s forked blockchain.
But it’s not exactly this simple. If you manage your own private keys or hold your bitcoin in an exchange that stated it would credit users’ accounts with bitcoin cash, you are fine and can access your new-found cryptocurrency right now.
If you had your bitcoin with a provider like Coinbase, which stated prior to the fork that they don’t intend on distributing bitcoin cash to users or even interacting with the new blockchain at all, then, for now, you might be out of luck.
To be clear, this does not mean firms like Gemini and Coinbase are taking your bitcoin cash for themselves. It’s just that they believe it’s a distraction and not going to be worth anything in the long run. If this proves to be incorrect and the coins hold value, these companies will probably end up distributing them to users.
Source: What is Bitcoin Cash and How Does It Differ From BTC
The way a fork works is; rather than creating a new cryptocurrency (and blockchain) beginning at the first block, a fork simply creates a duplicate version that shares the same history. So all previous transactions on bitcoin cash’s brand-new blockchain are identical to bitcoin core’s blockchain, with future transactions and balances being entirely independent of each other.
For practical matters, all this implies is that everybody who owned bitcoin before the fork now has the same quantity of bitcoin cash that is recorded in bitcoin cash’s forked blockchain.
But it’s not exactly this simple. If you manage your own private keys or hold your bitcoin in an exchange that stated it would credit users’ accounts with bitcoin cash, you are fine and can access your new-found cryptocurrency right now.
If you had your bitcoin with a provider like Coinbase, which stated prior to the fork that they don’t intend on distributing bitcoin cash to users or even interacting with the new blockchain at all, then, for now, you might be out of luck.
To be clear, this does not mean firms like Gemini and Coinbase are taking your bitcoin cash for themselves. It’s just that they believe it’s a distraction and not going to be worth anything in the long run. If this proves to be incorrect and the coins hold value, these companies will probably end up distributing them to users.
Source: What is Bitcoin Cash and How Does It Differ From BTC
