BTC vs BCH: Which One Should Be In Your Portfolio?
This guide is comparing Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash to explain all the ways that Bitcoin versus Bitcoin Cash are similar and highlight the key differences that separate them from one another. When all the pros and cons for both coins are laid out on the line, the answer to which crypto should you buy , Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash, will become much more apparent.
After a tumultuous 2020, the cryptocurrency market is forecast to rebound strongly over the coming months, with most experts predicting growth across the board. In fact, as more and more businesses, investors and institutions prepare to invest in cryptocurrency in 2021, there’s good reason to believe the next 12 months could see record-breaking prices for the major tokens.
So what exactly are the top tokens? Most people have heard of Bitcoin. It was the original cryptocurrency and is by far the biggest in terms of market capitalisation. Those familiar with the crypto markets may also have heard of Bitcoin’s offshoot - Bitcoin Cash. However, given their similar name and shared origin, many people are unclear on the actual differences between the two.
If you’re looking to invest in Bitcoin or buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021, then it’s important to understand how they differ and what sort of returns you can realistically expect. To this end, we have put together the following Bitcoin vs bitcoin cash comparison to help you decide which of the two better suits your portfolio goals.
There are also key details on each coin price forecasts, a look at past price history, and information on how to invest the two cryptocurrencies.
Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash, which one has the better investment in 2021 and beyond? Find out
Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin - The Key Differences
Before we start, it’s worth noting that if you are looking to invest in cryptocurrency in 2021, then both Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash could potentially be good options. Whereas BTC is undoubtedly the bigger of the two, it could be said that BCH has more room for growth. As such, you might choose to invest in Bitcoin Cash as a higher risk, higher reward option and invest in Bitcoin for comparative stability.
However, understanding the differences between Bitcoin and Bitcoin cash is a fundamental requirement of investing in the cryptocurrency market. So let’s take a look at some key features of Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin.
Bitcoin
Background
Bitcoin was created back in 2009 when the mysterious Satoshi Nakamoto published the original whitepaper, setting out his vision for a new kind of currency. The central idea was that by using blockchain technology, cryptocurrency could dispense with the need for a central authority and provide a safe, secure peer-to-peer payment system.
There as a handful of forward-thinking tech insiders who chose to invest in Bitcoin in the early days of cryptocurrency, but very few mainstream investors took notice during the first 2 - 3 years of its existence. However, by 2013 the price of BTC began to soar with early investors seeing returns of several hundred per cent.
Today, Bitcoin is worth a staggering $46,000 and suffice to say there are now plenty of mainstream financial experts keen to buy Bitcoin in 2021.
Transactions and Speed
Each cryptocurrency brings something different to the table but among the key attributes of any digital currency are the cost and speed of transactions. Of course, there are numerous other technical particulars, but for those looking to invest in cryptocurrency in 2021 then understanding the key fundamentals is a good place to start.
If you’re looking to invest in Bitcoin, then you may already be familiar with the idea of Bitcoin mining. This is an important part of the protocol as it is how transactions are verified and new BTC is released into circulation. In a nutshell, Bitcoin mining is the process wherein computers on the blockchain effectively compete to solve complex equations to verify transactions.
Bitcoin mining uses a phenomenal amount of computing power and resources. Miners on the network are therefore rewarded for verifying the data chains - or blocks - with Bitcoin tokens. This system ensures that the network is secure and there is no ‘double spend’ of Bitcoin, i.e. the same token used more than once. Further info can be found in our explanation of crypto mining.
Many of Bitcoin’s detractors have cited its ‘proof of work’ mining system as the reason behind its comparatively slow transaction time. Creating a new Bitcoin block can take up to ten minutes. By comparison, the Ethereum blockchain produces blocks in as little as 10 - 15 seconds.
Supply and Demand
Anyone looking to invest in Bitcoin should already be aware that price movements of any asset are largely driven by supply and demand. However, cryptocurrency differs from other assets in how supply and demand are maintained.
As we have discussed, new Bitcoin tokens are generated when Bitcoin miners create new blocks. Naturally, this begs the question, if BTC can simply be created out of nothing, how can it ever have any scarcity and thus any real value? The answer to this is a process known as Bitcoin halving. Every 210,000 blocks, the BTC reward for miners is cut in half. In 2009, it started at 50. In 2013, it was cut to 25, in 2018 it was 12.5, and in May of 2020, it was halved to 6.25. The next halving is estimated to take place in 2024.
There is also a maximum number of BTC written into the protocol, which ensures there will never be more than 21 million tokens in circulation. This in-built deflationary mechanism is a key factor behind Bitcoin’s ever-increasing value-per-token. However, anyone looking to buy Bitcoin in 2021 can rest assured - the Bitcoin cap is not expected to be realised until 2140.
Bitcoin Cash
Background
Bitcoin Cash was formed when the original Bitcoin hit a hard fork back in 2017. When the fork occurred, any existing Bitcoin holders were awarded an equivalent amount of Bitcoin Cash tokens. This led to BCH launching with an unusually high price of around $600 per token on most exchanges.
Anyone looking to buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021 should understand how it differs from its predecessor. Whilst it is undoubtedly based on the same source code and basic principles as Bitcoin, there are key differences between the two. One of which involves transaction processing, which we will explore in more detail below.
Naturally, there are also plenty of similarities when looking at Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash. Both use the proof of work consensus mechanism and both have a total supply capped at 21 million tokens. However, those looking to invest in Bitcoin Cash should be aware that it is still significantly smaller market cap than it’s predecessor and does not have as much support across the financial world.
Transactions and Speed
The transactional limitations of Bitcoin are the main reason that Bitcoin Cash came into being in the first place.
By the time the fork occurred in the original cryptocurrency, Bitcoin had faced criticism for its slow and costly transaction processing. Bitcoin Cash sought to improve the original protocol with a bigger blocksize - around 8MB to Bitcoin’s 1MB. The increased block size inevitably allows for more transactions, meaning BCH is much more feasible as a currency for everyday retail consumers.
Effectively, those who choose to buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021 do so with the hope that BCH will be seen as a more attractive option than BTC when it comes to day-to-day retail. However, once again those looking to invest in Bitcoin Cash should note that the original Bitcoin still has wider retail support at the time of writing.
Supply and Demand
Just as with Bitcoin, anyone looking to invest in Bitcoin Cash may have questions about the supply and demand model of the token. In this sense, both BCH and BTC have very similar credentials.
Bitcoin Cash is mined, just like Bitcoin. The BCH reward is also halved to create a deflationary effect, just as with its predecessor. In addition, as we have mentioned, the total supply of BCH is also capped at 21 million. This means that the supply curve of Bitcoin Cash has a very similar trajectory to the supply of the original cryptocurrency.
Things may be a little different on the demand side of things. Bitcoin has seen a surge in demand from institutional investors in recent months, but the same cannot really be said for Bitcoin Cash. However, the latter is included in the cryptocurrencies that will be supported on PayPal, so there is every possibility that demand for BCH is about to increase significantly.
Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin: Which One is The Better Investment?
Whether you choose to invest in Bitcoin or buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021, it never hurts to understand a few of the technical particulars. However, realistically this will only go so far in helping you predict future price movements and decide which will prove the better investment.
To build a more complete picture we carry out a retrospect of each token’s previous price movements, to get an idea of what market forces have previously stimulated growth and ascertain whether they may do so again in the near future. This is especially relevant to BTC and BCH, as their prices are always affected by their respected halvings.
In addition to considering past performance, we can also take a look at which industry figures or investment giants may be looking to invest in Bitcoin Cash or buy Bitcoin in 2021 - often significant interest from major players is enough in itself to drive a token’s price up.
Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash: Price History
Choosing to invest in cryptocurrency in 2021 undoubtedly includes significant risk - as do most forms of investment. However, whilst no one can make any guarantees on future price movements, a look back at a cryptocurrency’s history can at least improve our chances of making a more realistic projection.
BTC
If you’re planning to buy Bitcoin in 2021, then you probably already know something about its impressive price movement. BTC traded more or less for pennies until reaching $1 in 2011. Then things really started to take off, as more institutions moved to invest in Bitcoin.
By 2013 BTC had hit $1,242 and was beginning to establish itself as a serious investment opportunity. Its price trajectory was far from being straight incline, but as an increasing number of people began to invest in Bitcoin, token’s became more and more valuable, eventually peaking at $19,783.06 in 2017.
More recently, Bitcoin surged to a new all-time high of $48,364.06in the first half of February and prices show no sign of slowing down at the time of writing. Naturally, this bodes well for anyone looking to buy Bitcoin in 2021, although it is an expensive time to enter the market.
BCH
Bitcoin Cash had a much higher debut price than most cryptocurrencies, starting at around $600. This was more down to how the crypto came into being, rather than any initial rush to invest in Bitcoin Cash.
By December 2017, BCH had already reached an impressive $2,400 and many industry insiders were speculating that it could mirror Bitcoin’s price trajectory. However, this was soon quelled when saws prices come tumbling down to $704 by the start of 2018.
Things continued to go downhill for BCH throughout 2018 and 2019, with prices dropping as low as $107. However, Bitcoin Cash recovered to $393 at the outset of 2020 and to climb steeply, before hitting a 12 month high of almost $500 in early February. Once again it was speculated that there would be a surge in people wanting to invest in Bitcoin Cash. Once again this proved incorrect and BCH once again dropped to around $149 later in 2020.
Moving forward, things improved for BCH throughout 2020 and the crypto experienced fairly stable and consistent price increases, ending the year at over $340. At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash had reached an impressive $660.90.
Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash: Future Predictions
Most crypto analysts use historic price movement to inform their forecasts. Whether you intend to invest in Bitcoin Cash or invest in Bitcoin, the technical analyses of the leading analytical platforms is arguably the best way of gaining an insight into how prices may move in the near future.
BTC
There has been a lot of excitement regarding Bitcoin’s potential for the coming months. For example, DigitalCoinPrice is predicting that Bitcoin has a very real chance of reaching an all-time high of $76,768 by June of this year. Given that BTC had struck a record-breaking $51,914 at the time of writing, its easy to see how this prediction could pan out.
Another leading platform, TradingBeasts has recently adjusted its predictions in light of BTC’s unprecedented performance. It had previously pegged BTC to reach predicting an average of $37,000 before the end of 2021, but is now forecasting $43,788 by December 2021.
Of course, this suggests that the recent surge may be short lived and those choosing to invest in Bitcoin can expect a decline in prices at some point this year.
However, WalletInvestor is predicting no such thing and its forecast has BTC steadily climbing throughout the year and reaching an average of $55, 390.70 over the next 10 months.
All in all, analyst predictions suggest that choosing to buy Bitcoin in 2021 could be a good move - assuming their forecasts hold up.
BCH
Those looking to buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021 will also find plenty of positivity surrounding its future price movements. In fact, as is often the case with cryptocurrencies, the price surge experienced by BTC has resulted in a lift for the market as a whole and BCH was trading at $724 at the time of writing.
DigitalCoinPrice have reevaluated its forecast for BCH and are predicting that it could reach $949.45 before the end of February. However, the trajectory of BCH does not quite have the same consistency as that of BTC and the platform predicts that Bitcoin Cash will see its value peak above $1,000 three times over the summer, before declining to $965.32 by the end of the year.
Meanwhile, WalletInvestor has a more subdued forecast for Bitcoin Cash. However, it still predicts a steady price increase throughout the year, with BCH creeping up month by month until reaching an average of $757 by December 2021.
Despite riding on the coattails of Bitcoin to some extent, choosing to invest in Bitcoin Cash may be a good option - especially for those looking to acquire a larger holding with a smaller investment.
Bitcoin Cash Vs Bitcoin: What the Experts Say
Expert opinions can often serve as an indicator of industry sentiment towards cryptocurrency, but more importantly, if they come from an influential investor or market leader, then an opinion can be enough to directly affect prices.
This effect was seen recently when Bitcoin’s price surged following the announcement that Elon Musk’s Tesla had invested some $1.5bn in the cryptocurrency. The news sent the price of BTC up by 17% overnight.
Whilst choosing whether or not to buy Bitcoin in 2021 should be a decision based on careful research, it wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that most prominent industry voices are optimistic about the future of BTC. Mike Novogratz and Citibank’s Tom Fitzpatrick are amongst the voices predicting significant growth, and even former sceptics like Bernstein Research's Inigo Fraser-Jenkins have made a U-turn and are now advising clients to invest in Bitcoin.
However, which experts are recommending people to buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021? Opinions may not be quite as unified as they are in favour of Bitcoin, but there are still plenty of prominent industry figures who are more than bullish on BCH.
Crypto expert Roger Ver - who has previously shown a knack for accurate predictions - believes that BCH is the true realisation of Satoshi Nakamoto’s original vision for cryptocurrency and is confident that Bitcoin Cash will double its value across 2021.
Elsewhere, outspoken crypto investor Kim Dotcom is also choosing to invest in Bitcoin Cash, predicting - perhaps somewhat optimistically - that BCH could soar to over $3,000 by the end of 2021, describing it as “the ultimate content monetization platform.” However, those looking to buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021 should take the more outlandish predictions with a pinch of salt.
So, Is Bitcoin Cash Better than Bitcoin?
Bitcoin Cash was touted as the improved Bitcoin when it was launched back in 2017. However, as of yet it hasn’t exactly succeeded in toppling its predecessor. But whilst it might not be ‘better’, there are still plenty of reasons to invest in Bitcoin Cash and the coin has great potential as a currency for everyday retail transactions - arguable more so than the original Bitcoin.
Should I invest in Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin has rarely been out of the news in recent weeks, with several large corporations signalling their intention to invest in Bitcoin. Inevitably, this has led to a surge of casual observers wondering whether to buy Bitcoin in 2021. BTC can indeed be a very good investment, but it is not without risk. But Bitcoin Cash is cheap per coin, faster and still has plenty of value. It does not matter if you invest in Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash.
Both can go together well in the same portfolio. Investing in both can be a good idea since they both offer value. They are also both great to trade and can be even more profitable with proper risk management and skills.
What’s the Main Difference Between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash?
When considering Bitcoin Cash vs Bitcoin, there are a few key differences but the main one for investors to be aware of is that BCH has a much faster block creation time and as such was intended to be more useful in everyday retail transactions.
Bitcoin Cash Vs Bitcoin: Conclusion
It may seem an obvious choice to invest in Bitcoin rather than buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021 - the former appears to be much lower risk and with more indicators suggesting substantial price increases. However, despite the backgrounds of each coin, there is no reason you actually have to choose between them.
When it comes to Bitcoin vs Bitcoin cash, it is difficult to call a clear winner, and even despite several similarities, the two coinss still complement one another well.
If you choose to buy Bitcoin in 2021, you are arguably taking the road into the crypto market with the lowest risk, however, choosing to invest in Bitcoin Cash will allow you to acquire a much larger holding for the same outlay.
There may be fewer voices recommending people to buy Bitcoin Cash in 2021, but it should always be remembered that the cryptocurrency market changes quickly and sentiment could change from one day to the next. If, for example, BCH proves its worth as a solid alternative for day to day transactions in the coming months, then those who chose to invest in Bitcoin Cash earlier will find themselves ahead of the pack when it comes to returns.
Bitcoin makes an excellent investment asset due to how powerful the price swings are and the long term appreciation according to its price predictions. Bitcoin Cash, also, sound like it is as exciting due to the $700 per coin currently and the $4,000 per coin predictions, it is much easier to own dozens of BTC instead o BTC, and the rate of return is just as strong if not better.
Whether you decide to invest in Bitcoin Cash or it’s predecessor, remember that there is risk involved - experts can be wrong and price predictions are by no means guaranteed. As always, the best investment strategies involved a diversified portfolio to mitigate risk.
How to Invest in Cryptocurrency in 2021
Whether you’re looking to invest in Bitcoin Cash or buy Bitcoin in 2021, you’ll need to find a reputable broker to facilitate any transactions. We recommend eToro as a top platform for most investors, as it offers trading in all the major cryptocurrencies and features a very user-friendly interface.
The first thing you’ll need to do is open an account, which involves entering a few details before uploading a copy of your passport or driving licence to verify your identity. The whole process can be completed in minutes and once you’re up and running you’ll have access to cutting edge trading and analysis tools.
Most novice investors should probably start with Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Cash, as it presents a more stable investment, but with the right strategy you can quickly start diversifying your portfolio to profit from the price movement of other cryptocurrencies.