My walk with BCH and what I see into it

Everyone on read.cash has their own story with Bitcoin Cash and this one is mine. It took a long time to write because I wanted to make it good. And to really convey what I wanted to say about BCH.

The first contact I had with BCH was on the now-defunct Coinpot faucet. I didn't pay much attention as it was just some other coin. It actually sounded just like a plagiarized lesser version of the original almighty Bitcoin. For me, cryptocurrencies were Bitcoin and Litecoin. The two coins I started mining in 2011-2012 but for which I do not have anything about my wallets anymore. Back then, crypto was not really a thing yet. But more of a curiosity for the full stack developer I was. Sadly, I now fall in the stats about dormant wallets with thousands of dollars sleeping which will forever be lost in time. But that is a story for another article maybe. Maybe not I just hate to remember.

So at first, BCH didn't strike me as something with a bright future. What was it doing more than the others, what problem was it solving. Is it like a new flavor or a new trendy brand? You know like Coca-Cola or Pepsi.

But I now think I was wrong about BCH. It is one of the blockchains that might have one of the best futures as a currency. Want to know why? I will tell you at the end but meanwhile here is my walk with BCH, from the first contact to holding it. This will better explain my thinking and sentiment towards Bitcoin Cash.

Whatever disagreement sparked the first BCH fork ABC-BSV

Or so I told myself. The second contact I got with BCH is from the hard fork into BCH ABC and BCH SV. For the community or the developers, it seemed to be very important. For me, I had no idea what was the split about. I just saw an easy and quick way to make money out of the hard fork. Money that would come from thin air. I did not care much about these coins as they had no use case and provide solutions to nothing. At least that was my thinking back in November 2018.

Block size, less data being processed, op_codes are what the fork was really about among other technical things. Also the claim to restore the real Satoshi Vision (SV). But I really think BSV is full of drama with Wright and what he said about how BCH SV is supposed to be the original Bitcoin. As well as the claim that he is Satoshi Nakamoto.

Not so long ago, I tried some platforms and other things related to BSV and I do not see the point. I could almost say that it has a toxic community or very narrow-minded and sadly, I’ll just say stupid angry people. This can be seen in a noise.cash/Twitter wannabe named Twetch. In case you wonder, you have to PAY to do anything on that platform and the community has a very little user base and annoying people. Do not lose your time with this.

Anyway, I won’t extend more on BSV as it is not Bitcoin and much less Bitcoin Cash and just a loss of time.

Then came read.cash and BCH reaching more people

I have read somewhere that there was a platform where we could earn some crypto for participating and being active. I had to give it a try. My first few weeks with read.cash was, how can I say, just average. There were some very good articles and people but they were buried under all the spam, short meaningless comments, and useless posts. Thousands of flower photos along with good night and morning wishes every third post. Some users seemed to have many several accounts boasting how much they can bleed out of the BCH pool of donations. The good thing is that it got sorted with time and much more enjoyable to browse.

After some Reddit arguing with one of the people behind the read.cash handle I think, I finally understood. I was angry at that moment, but a point was made. BCH was getting out there at that was a really big thing. Out to communities that not many cryptocurrencies are reaching with some that are even almost totally unbanked. It is marketed in the best way and reaching more and more people every day. It is starting to be used where local currencies are having a bad time with trust or inflation.

Bitcoin Cash is coming out of the zone where all the cryptos are stuck and where only a few have gotten. 1up, EOS with Trybe, Publish0x to some extend, they are all stuck with tokens that arent used as cash or are too niche for a broader public. Fees are too high, it is slow to transfer, there is a lot of volatility, nothing can be paid for with them. This is where the platforms read.cash and noise.cash running with BCH is an awesome tool to reach milestones as far as awareness and user base.

Surprise, another fork, but this time about funding

To many people’s surprise, another fork came to life last November. This time, it was mostly around the financing of BCH development. The team spearheaded by Amaury Séchet named Bitcoin ABC integrated a miner tax or a mandatory 8% fee of all mined blocks, the coinbase rule in the miner software named IFP. Some miners followed but not many. In the end, it lead to the birth of another BCH chain also named BCHA, and the one you are earning on read.cash and noise.cash with the original BCH ticker. The latter running the mining software named BCHN.

Forcing fees or selling their product and services is something companies and corporations do. But open-source or community-oriented projects are mostly not to say always from a grant, donations, or from some fundraising activities. Anyone ever made funding a mandatory integrated part of UNIX, OpenBSD, or Linux? Even if it is being used for critical purposes such as bank mainframes? How did it get funds for research development and growth?

These great projects rose from the passion of the community around them. This is how they got there they stand now. And, the same pretty much goes for all open source projects. So, who funded the initial development of Bitcoin? The answer is; no one. It is born from the hard work and passion of some developer/cryptographer. Exactly who is topic to many other posts and it is most certainly not from Craig Wright.

I think BCH is supposed to be something for the people, from the people. And it should stay this way even as it becomes huge. Funded through grants, donations, and other fundraising activities. One thing for sure funding should never be enforced on people using or whoever operates the network. On this, I guess the future will tell us how it is in the crypto world. The real decentralized one, not the products like Ripple XRP.

The walk with Bitcoin Cash continues

After having used BCH for a few months as an investment, a way to pay for a few times, some gambling token, and earning it on read.cash and now noise.cash. I believe it is one of the most promising coins around as a currency. Why? Because it can be used as cash just like fiat. There is even a story of someone buying land in Africa with BCH. Transactions are fast, very cheap, and easy to do. They are supported in pretty much any BTC or multi-coin wallets and are gaining popularity among regular people. This is unlike any other crypto right now. Bitcoin is turning into a store of value or stock to investors, ETH is crumbling under gas fees and only used by the riches in DEFI or for expensive NFTs, and others like XRP are centralized.

In this sense, we could pretty much say that Bitcoin Cash is not the real bitcoin. I know, I know. I just wrote this but let me explain. It is as close to the original vocation as it can be. It ticks pretty much all the boxes of Satoshi Nakamoto Bitcoin whitepaper. The wish for a permissionless, borderless, decentralized monetary system. It is also spreading and getting known by the people who are less inclined to use crypto. People from poorer countries that can’t afford to buy Bitcoin or Ethereum and who can now earn it on read.cash or noise.cash.

Still, we can’t and shouldn’t call it the real Bitcoin. BTC is still around and I pretty much think it will be for a long time. But what Bitcoin really is? Just a name. The name of something very specific that has no equivalent or nothing alike. BTC and BCH are not like Coke and Pepsi but rather something like Coca-Cola and Orange Fanta. The underlying is very similar but yet they are different colors, have different tastes, and do not appeal to the same people.

I think the best would have been to just call it another name. The Supercoin, the Real Money, Bitcash, Ecash or The People Coin, Lifecash, Better Cash (BCH), or anything appealing and unique. To brand it as something else than Bitcoin. It is not BTC. It is a better version of it but above all something different build on the underlying technology. This would avoid all drama, any confusion with the original Bitcoin. Get Craig out of it and just avoid the narrow-minded purist and the snobs of BSV. It could be a rebirth like a phoenix coming out from its ashes.

Now let see where it goes, hopefully to the planet mars

I do not want to say to the moon, that is what we say as investors. I do hope its value stays more stable. It is not necessarily for the price, but for adoption I like BCH. I sure hope it continues to develop and gain traction as a currency. With its community now, it is one of the best candidates for that. I hope the focus stays on this before they start heading in the wrong direction. I wish for my children or their descendants to see it be the currency that they will use on Mars.

But meanwhile, I would also like to see people talk about how they are paying for things and services with BCH. Or how they send BCH to their friends or family after acquiring them posting good articles on platforms like read.cash. Much more these talks than knowing if BCH is a good investment, or to hold it. Spent it! Use it! This is what a currency is. Because if we do not, it might just turn it into another store of value and not a usable currency. It should not see as something to trade or invest in but rather as something to use. A currency to pay for services and buy goods.

This can only happen if we all put a little of ourselves into it.

Walking to and beyond the next destination

Because of the pandemics, I am 7852 miles or 12636 km away from where my life will continue. Still waiting on the green light to move back to Asia. More precisely to Vietnam. A country where the cryptocurrencies are looked like something not recognized. At this moment it has no laws or rules for its use. And being not recognized by the government, there are no banks that will deal with it. It is also why there are many scams right now as people cant be arrested as it is not seen as an asset or something of value. But from the influence of other countries around, they are looking into using blockchain technologies and opening to crypto. I know that more and more people there are getting into it.

Video about cryptocurrency and government in Vietnam

This is where I see the opportunity to spread the word about Bitcoin Cash and will start accepting it over the local currency for my services by giving discounts and incentives if paid with it. I will also pass the word around offering to pay slightly more in BCH for great service. A bit like leaving a tip.

Leaving a tip is also what you can do to help me and my family to get there and encourage me to write and share more.

I will also write more about my view of BCH in upcoming articles so subscribe to not miss them.