Bitcoin Cash (BCH) and Bitcoin (BTC): a comparison
Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin set side by side: how the quotes moved, how the protocols are built and what tasks each one was made for.
Specifications of BCH and BTC
| Bitcoin Cash (BCH) | Bitcoin (BTC) | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $238.95 | $74,836.00 |
| Ticker | BCH | BTC |
| Type | coin of its own network | coin of its own network |
| Launched | 2017 | 2009 |
| Consensus | Proof of Work (SHA-256) | Proof of Work (SHA-256) |
| Block | ~10 min | ~10 min |
| Supply cap | 21 M BCH | 21 M BTC |
| Privacy | transfers are public | transfers are public |
| In circulation | 20.11 M BCH | 20.11 M BTC |
| Market cap | $4.81 B | $1.5 T |
| Rank by cap | #21 | #1 |
| Built by | — | Satoshi Nakamoto |
Source: CoinGecko, Nov 10, 2026 12:57. How these numbers are counted
Price movement: BCH and BTC
The start of the period is taken as 100 for both prices: the chart shows the difference in movement, not the quotes themselves.
| Period | BCH | BTC |
|---|---|---|
| 7 days | −13.52% | −3.94% |
| 30 days | −14.75% | −8.91% |
| 90 days | +11.64% | +17.66% |
The link between their daily moves over the quarter is 0.59 (they travel alike).
The tasks BCH and BTC were made for
- Transfers and paymentsBitcoin Cash
- Storing value over the long runBitcoin
How Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin are built
How Bitcoin Cash works
From bitcoin, BCH inherited Proof of Work (SHA-256), ten-minute blocks and the 21 million supply cap, but blocks here are allowed to be much larger. More transactions fit into a block — and the fee stays at a very low level.
What Bitcoin Cash is for
Bitcoin Cash goes towards cheap payments and transfers, including small everyday amounts.
How Bitcoin works
Underneath it is Proof of Work on SHA-256. Miners compete for the right to close the next block, which happens roughly every 10 minutes, and the reward is made up of new coins plus transaction fees. Every 210,000 blocks, about once every four years, the reward is cut in half, so issuance gradually fades out. Balances are not held in accounts but as unspent outputs (UTXO).
What Bitcoin is for
Most people buy bitcoin for the long run and hold it, treating it as a way to preserve capital. At the same time it stays the reference point for the whole market: trading pairs, indices and derivatives are quoted against it. Less often, it is used for what it was built for — cross-border transfers — while small payments are moved to the Lightning Network.