Why is ETH in bitcoin.com wallet?

It is no longer news that the bitcoin.com wallet now has Ethereum support been added to the wallet. The question that we should be asking now is why is ETH added to the bitcoin.com wallet? It is essential to ask the question because the bitcoin.com wallet is known to be a foundational wallet for Bitcoin cash and being owned by a prominent Bitcoin cash promoter. Moreover, most users in the Bitcoin cash community know little or nothing about Ethereum. ETH, been added to the bitcoin.com wallet at this point has some underlying reasons which I think will be beneficial to the Bitcoin cash community. But before we can think about any benefit that this development may bring, we need to first have a basic knowledge about Ethereum and why it was added to the wallet.

The basics of Ethereum

Ethereum is an open-source platform that enables smart contract performance. The traditional token of the platform is called Ether (ETH) which is the second-largest currency in the crypto market after Bitcoin. Ethereum was founded in 2015, by Vitalik Buterin, of Russian-Canadian descent.

ETH as a token is like any other currency like Bitcoin cash and Bitcoin that do not rely on a mediator such as a bank or a payment provider. Instead, you are free to send and receive ETH to anyone who wants - whenever you want - without asking permission. It works the same way as, Bitcoin, this is done anonymously, which means that your identity is not directly related to your ETH wallet. Haven't said that, let deal with the subject of this article.

Why is Ethereum added to the bitcoin.com wallet?

Speculation already had it that SmartBCH will be fully launched in June. If this is to happen ETH will be needed by most people in the Bitcoin cash community who may want to do business with the SmartBCH platform. SmartBCH is an Ethereum based project that operates as a side chain on the Bitcoin cash network. It's created to enable Ethereum functionality on the BCH network through smart contracts and DApps. What that means is that with SmartBCH, smart contracts and the use Ethereum based DApps can function on the Bitcoin cash network.

Smart contracts are common features on the Ethereum network which neither Bitcoin nor Bitcoin cash has. With SmartBCH individual developers can now build or design smart contracts with BCH as the functional token of operation. For those of us who do not know anything about a smart contract you can think of it as a code that allows for “well-planned money functionalities.” They are designed in a way that cannot be altered by anyone. They are made to explicitly and spontaneously carry out their functions without any human efforts since they are coded.

In the crypto business, smart contracts allow people to bypass mediators altogether. A simple example would be a smart contract that manages a crowdfunding program where an individual put their money and expect a return for their investment. Here, the contract may be set to be paid automatically on the first day of each month, thus eliminating the need for moderating and accounts management.

Smart contracts are often run on a DApp, an application created using smart protocols on the Ethereum network. DApp means distributed applications. Anyone is free to use them.

An example of a simple DApp could be a dice game like the proverbial fair game, where users who want to play first need to send ETH to a smart deal that keeps the bet if they lose or pay if they win. This kind of game is usually open source where you can be able to check the contract source to make sure the game is actually fair. We should expect this kind of DApp on the Bitcoin cash network soon since ownership does not have to be associated with Ethereum, anyone in the world can play this unallocated dice game.

Now we are getting a clearer picture of what is coming and why ETH is added to the bitcoin.com wallet. As a widely used wallet, bitcoin.com needs to provide access to the use of applications built and deployed on the Ethereum network. Having ETH in your digital wallet provides a gateway to distributed applications built on Ethereum, currently the most widely used blockchain, with the highest number of developers working on it through SmartBCH.

This seems like the first step to prepare us for the coming of SmartBCH. Everyone who has ETH in other wallets needs to move them to a bitcoin.com wallet in waiting for SmartBCH to take off. The benefit of this new development is that most ETH users now have an option of using their coins without having to pay the high gas fees associated with Ethereum. ETH is simply added to gain easy access to smart contracts on SmartBCH.

Moreover, this development will lead to more adoption of BCH as ETH users who wants to access SmartBCH will definitely need to have some BCH to enable them to join any of the smart contracts. This is going to be interesting.