What is Bitcoin Cash?

Crypto is speculative, not covered by SIPC or the FDIC, and offered through the Plynk app only by Paxos. Don’t invest more than you’re willing to lose.

What exactly is Bitcoin Cash?

Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash may sound alike, but they’re actually 2 different cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin Cash is also digital currency—but it’s a spin-off of the original Bitcoin. Where you see the acronym BTC associated with Bitcoin, you’ll see BCH for Bitcoin Cash.

Why was Bitcoin Cash created?

Bitcoin Cash launched in 2017 in anticipation that the original Bitcoin may not be able to meet the needs of users with its existing confirmation times.

The creators of Bitcoin Cash developed a new crypto that could confirm transactions faster.

Bitcoin Cash transaction times

Bitcoin Cash can handle 15-20 times more transactions per second than Bitcoin. That's around 116 transactions per second.¹

To put this into perspective, you can compare this to credit card company Visa's transactions per second: 1,700.²

It exists 100% digitally, and behind the scenes each transaction is recorded on a worldwide database (without disclosing anyone's names).

But because there are few people using Bitcoin Cash for everyday transactions, the actual volume per second hasn't surpassed that of Bitcoin. Maybe one day it will—or maybe it won't. No one can predict the future.

Maximum supply

Bitcoin Cash has the same limited supply as Bitcoin—a maximum of 21 million coins. As of March 2022, over 19 million have already been created.³

Volatility: It's up and it's down

Like with many cryptocurrencies, there’s volatility in the price of Bitcoin Cash—meaning prices can go up and down quickly in a short amount of time.

In December 2017, Bitcoin Cash hit its highest price: 1 Bitcoin Cash cost over $4,000. And within 4 months, it lost over 70% of its value. As of March 2022, its price hovers between $300 and $400.⁴

What that means for you: Trading cryptocurrency can be risky so it’s important to decide for yourself if you’re comfortable buying it.

If you do decide it’s the right move for you, think about how much you want to invest in crypto. Make sure it’s not money from your emergency savings or that you may need to pay your bills.

Essentially, if you can’t afford to lose it, don’t use it.

What can I do with it?

In the Plynk app, you can only buy, hold, and sell Bitcoin Cash.

But more broadly, people around the world use Bitcoin Cash in all sorts of ways. They buy, hold, sell, transfer and exchange it.