The rift between bitcoin and its offshoot bitcoin cash isn't just ideological – it's hazardous.
For months, a technical quirk has led some users of both cryptocurrencies to lose money, both temporarily and permanently. But it appears that nightmare scenario may soon be in the past, as bitcoin cash's developer team recently announced it is taking steps to address the problem.
To recap, bitcoin cash originally split from bitcoin earlier this summer in an attempt to experiment with a different long-term technical vision for the technology. For all their differences, though, it's their similarities that are causing the problem.
When bitcoin cash created a new blockchain from bitcoin's transaction history, it took much of the old code along with it, including the address format that users use to send money. The problem with that is, if users aren't paying attention, they can send bitcoin cash to their bitcoin addresses, or vice versa.
A quick google search unearths dozens of forum posts where users complain of this problem.
"I accidentally sent my BTC to a BCC address. Is there a way to recover them? Is there somebody that can help me with this matter?" pleaded one user on Bitcoin Stack Exchange, a technical forum.