The real Bitcoin
There is a lot of debate around whether BCH or BTC is the real bitcoin so following on from my last article on blocksize I will be exploring the current bitcoin forks.
The first thing to note is neither BTC or BCH are the ‘original’ bitcoin, they are both the product of bitcoin forking. Since then theres been multiple other forks, most of which have not been popular enough to survive (except BSV but this is widely regarded a sh*tcoin).
As I covered in the last article, the fork was the result of the blocksize disagreement; BTC wanted to keep the existing size, BCH wanted higher blocksize, a fork followed the disagreement.
So what will we class as the ‘real’ bitcoin? Well the ‘real’ bitcoins goal is to be peer to peer cash. This means untouched by institutes and for the transfer of wealth between two individuals without approval from an organised third party. It also means being decentralised. Let’s look at the features of Bitcoin core and Bitcoin cash.
Bitcoin core
Wide recognition
One of bitcoin cores strengths is that it is widely recognised. From the fork BTC retained the logo, meaning it has remained associated with the original bitcoin. Recognition is the first hurdle for something to be used a transfer of wealth.
Decentralised
Bitcoins cores smaller blocksize means anyone can mine (although not necessarily efficiently given the increased difficulty) and anyone can run a node even with very limited resources. The more nodes exist the more eyes lie on any activity on the blockchain so attacks can quickly be identified by any regular person. This is important as it gives any individual power to contribute to BTC therefore can be considered truly decentralised.
Slow and high fees
Bitcoin core does undeniably have higher fees and takes longer for transactions to go through. This makes it unsuitable for day to day life payments however, bitcoin is not intended for buying a coffee or a meal out. It’s intended to act as wealth transfer between peers therefore whilst fees and transaction time aren’t ideal, it isn’t as big an issue as made out to be. For start up online stores, or transferring wealth across the world securely with no third party Bitcoin core is suitable.
Bitcoin cash
Fast and low fees
Bitcoin cash having a high blocksize means it holds more transactions per block so these go through faster than BTC (blocks dont get full) and for cheaper (fees aren’t competitive). This is a huge advantage should BCH be used in day to day life
Less decentralised
Bitcoin cashes blocksize makes running a node difficult for individuals, it is more commonly done by institutions, universities and other organisations. Not on an individual scale. This means there needs to be a degree of trust in the organisations to not collaborate to enable/permit 51% attacks. This is the trade off from larger blocksize which unfortunately means the third parties are organised institutes therefore less decentralised.
Effectively we can say both of these are ‘real’ bitcoin, or neither, or one but not the other. Both are being adopted in first world countries slowly but surely. Both have enough usage to have a supporting community and both can be used in transfer of wealth. As far as peer to peer goes, both are valid. Personally I hold biases towards BTC but by no means does than mean I look down on BCH. It simply doesn’t have the same usage BTC. That said, BTC undeniably does lead the market, so regardless what you consider the ‘real’ bitcoin to be, confidence in the entire cryptomarket rests on BTC which you can interpret however you please.
If you disagree, or want me to adress any points from an attempted neutral perspective please comment below!
