Bitcoin Cash was created by forking the original bitcoin chain on block 478558 with the intention to become the bitcoin itself, and provide faster, more scalable transactions.
Limited Transactions on Bitcoin.
The number of transactions per block in bitcoin is limited. As bitcoin became more popular, the number of transactions grew in the past years and created the problem that transactions took longer as the Bitcoin blocks were “full”. So you had two choices, either wait longer for your transaction to be processed, or pay a higher fee to get it processed faster.
It was the above Bitcoin limitations that lead to the creation of Bitcoin Cash.
Company Message
"Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin Cash brings sound money to the world. Merchants and users are empowered with low fees and reliable confirmations. The future shines brightly with unrestricted growth, global adoption, permissionless innovation, and decentralized development."
Bitcoin cash does have some advantages over the original Bitcoin. To start off, bitcoin cash has a significantly larger block size of 8mb, compared to the original which has a block size of only 1mb. Furthermore, transaction signatures are validated on the bitcoin cash blockchains, whereas transaction signatures are excluded from the transaction id on the original blockchain. Bitcoin cash's scaling proposition is increasing the blocksize, which makes it quite faster and gives the ability to handle a much higher TPS count than the original network.
Bitcoin cash has its drawbacks, however, the biggest one being that it is quite centralized mining-wise, according to a steemit user's research here, who found out that nearly 92% of the blocks are mined by only two entities, which translates to a big security vulnerability, as the network even suffered a 51% attack caused by just 2 miners.
In July 2017, mining pools and companies representing roughly 80 percent to 90 percent of bitcoin computing power voted to incorporate a technology known as a segregated witness, called SegWit2x. SegWit2x makes the amount of data that needs to be verified in each block smaller by removing signature data from the block of data that needs to be processed in each transaction and having it attached in an extended block. Bitcoin cash is a different story. Bitcoin cash was started by bitcoin miners and developers equally concerned with the future of the cryptocurrency and its ability to scale effectively. However, these individuals had their reservations about the adoption of a segregated witness technology. They felt as though SegWit2x did not address the fundamental problem of scalability in a meaningful way, nor did it follow the roadmap initially outlined by Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous party that first proposed the blockchain technology behind cryptocurrency.
Ledger
As for using the Nano Ledger S, the first step towards setting up your device is unboxing and checking if you have received all the accessories with the device. Once you have unboxed your device, you need to configure and initialize it before being able to use it. The process is quite simple and will hardly take about 20-30 minutes post which you will be set to use your Ledger Nano S device.
Setup guide video: here
Trezor
As for Trezor, installing is really simple. To properly install it users should attach the unit to the computer. After that continue with installing the bridge which allows the Trezor to join with the computer. The first step is to connect the Trezor to device’s USB slot with the cable given in the box. After that, go to myTrezor.com and proceed with installing the browser extension. Trezor can also be used on Android or an iPhone, or on a Windows or Mac computer. Now, initiate the extension and myTrezor will direct you to pick a PIN. After this, you will notice nine buttons but the numbers are hidden. After this, users should check the Trezor’s screen to recognize which numbers are in which place because it switches every time. Now set the PIN. Shortly after, Trezor should present a 24-word wallet “seed”. In short, one word at a time. Note down this seed and save it carefully. If your Trezor device malfunctions or is lost, you can utilize the seed to reconstruct the complete wallet.
Setup guide video: here
Bitcoindotcom's wallet is a great choice for both a mobile and desktop wallet. It’s a non-custodian wallet which means you are in full control of your currency, it supports both BCH and BTC while also allowing you to conduct worldwide payments
As always you can go with an alternative, both Jaxx and Exodus are great choices.
Jaxx
What's really great about jaxx.io is that it doesn’t store the private keys on its servers but on the device of your choosing. Another reason to love Jaxx is cross-platform functionality. It is available on 9 different platforms and can be interlinked with all these platforms which means that the same balances and wallet is available when a different device is being used.
Exodus
Exodus, on the other hand, which supports numerous other cryptocurrencies along with BCH and is pretty straightforward and easy to use. Just download the app from the official site(exodus.io) and get straight into creating your wallet. Exodus stores your Private Keys on the machine you choose and not on any server, providing you with relative peace of mind when it comes to the security of your coins.
Online wallets offer the convenience of accessibility on every device, but it comes at the price of being significantly vulnerable to security breaches. Only use online wallets if you must and try to store minimal amounts on them.
Free Wallet
Free Wallet is an online multi-currency wallet that supports multiple currencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and more than 30 crypto tokens, wherein it enables the free transaction between the free wallet users. You can even buy cryptocurrencies with the help of a credit card. It is not only a web wallet but its also available for mobile devices to download, such as iOS and Android. Free Wallet provides some of the best features like multi-signature transaction confirmation, 2-factor authentication and many more.
There isn’t any shortage of wallets for the most Popular bitcoin fork. As always, store your BCH according to your risk tolerance and the amount you’re storing, and do not forget to do your own research for the wallet of your choice.
Buying bitcoin cash can be done in multiple ways. The safest and most popular way to buy BCH with credit or debit cards is using either Coinbase or Coinmama, which are both great choices.
Coinbase
Coinbase, currently one of the largest cryptocurrency and most reputable brokers in the world. Charges are a flat 3.99% fee on all purchases via debit card, which is among the lowest for European and US customers. It's very beginner-friendly, instant and aged accounts have high daily withdrawal limits
Coinmama
Coinmama is a cryptocurrency broker that specializes in letting you purchase with a debit, credit card or a bank transfer. You'll be charged a 6% fee due to the risks and processing fees that come with credit card payments. The company has recently started accepting SEPA payments as well, with 0% processing fees. Prices are denominated in EUR or USD. Coinmama offers high limits, but it's important to note that nearly all exchanges require KYC verification especially for credit card purchases.
There are certainly other exchanges and brokers you could use. Binance, which is one of the top exchanges by volume recently added a credit/debit card option for purchasing many top cryptocurrencies including BCH. It had a security breach, however, now also being blacklisted in the US, so approach using it with caution.
