ECash: Overview and Should You Invest?

Maybe you’ve noticed there is a new coin climbing the charts called ECash. But the truth is, this coin isn’t new, rather, it’s a rebranding of a cryptocurrency that has existed for years.

ECash is simply the new name and look of the cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash ABC which was originally a fork of Bitcoin Cash. ECash aims to be a newer, simpler cryptocurrency that will change the way people send money around the globe.

Should you invest in eCash? Keep reading to find out.

What is eCash?

ECash is a cryptocurrency which uses the Bitcoin Cash ABC blockchain in order to function. Bitcoin Cash ABC (BCHA) was a hard fork off the blockchain Bitcoin Cash which happened on November 15th, 2020 due to a disagreement between the miners and the developers over 8% of the funds rewarded via mining being put into a blockchain development fund.  Shortly after the fork, the creator of Bitcoin Cash ABC realized that cryptocurrency would never be widely adopted if it kept on its current path. Thus, on July 1, 2021, he rebranded the entire cryptocurrency of Bitcoin Cash ABC to eCash.

Part of this rebranding was done to reduce the amount of decimal places a coin needs to have, as this makes it difficult for people to keep track of their coins. ECash has only two decimal places, keeping it right in line with the fiat currencies. Additionally, the eCash system now functions on the Avalanche consensus algorithm. This means it is a proof of stake consensus mechanism and that transactions are confirmed almost instantly. Not to mention that this eliminates the possibility of future hard forks, which is a problem that has plagued the Bitcoin Cash system since 2017 resulting in multiple hard forks every time there is a disagreement between the developers and the miners.

One cool thing about eCash is that unlike many other cryptocurrencies on the market, it still aims to have privacy protocols while increasing usability. It currently uses the CashFusion protocol which maintains a user’s anonymity in the same way it did for the original cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash.

ECash aims to be an easier way for people to pay digitally with cryptocurrency. Plus, the developers have added a portion of the blockchain that runs on the Ethereum Virtual Machine which allows people to create their own dapps and tokens for their projects as they see fit.

Who Created ECash?

ECash was created by Amaury Sechet, who was originally on the Bitcoin Cash project and was a big part of the hard fork that led to Bitcoin Cash ABC. It was after the fork occurred that he decided to take the project in a whole new direction that he hoped would be more adaptable and scalable. Before working on the Bitcoin Cash project, Sechet was a coder for both Facebook and Stupid D Compiler.

How Do You Mine ECash?

ECash runs on a proof of stake protocol, this means it can be mined without the fancy equipment needed to mine a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. Users who own a certain amount of cryptocurrency on the blockchain will be eligible to stake transactions, and as a reward, will be given a small amount of eCash. Therefore there are no actual “miners” in the eCash system, just stakers.

Should You Invest in ECash?

Although eCash looks like a decent cryptocurrency project, there are several aspects that raise the doubt of investors. First of all, eCash is basically a fork of a fork of a fork of a fork of Bitcoin, and as you get further away from the original product, you also deviate from the original vision. In eCash, 8% of all money made by stakers is put in a fund for the future of the blockchain. This detracts from the decentralization claim of the blockchain, because who decides when and how this money is used? And who has access? See the problem?

Also, one of the things this world needs is a simpler payment processor. Bitcoin is great, but it has such bad scalability issues that it will never be widely adapted. While it seems eCash could be a good way to encourage adaption of cryptocurrency for payment, it also functions a bit like Ethereum, which to be honest, is a little confusing. Ethereum is already the best in its business, and it has many big competitors like Cardano, a fork of a fork blockchain like eCash won’t even be a blip on the screen.

If eCash really wanted to make waves, it should focus on being just a payment processing system like Dogecoin and Bitcoin, and look for adaption in the way that Visa is a payment processor but not the internet. For these reasons, it may be best to wait on your eCash investment.

There is simply too much competition in the cryptocurrency space right now, and you’ll need something more than less decimal places in order to make waves. But if you believe in the project and in its future, then there is no reason not to invest in eCash.

What Happened to Bitcoin Cash ABC?

For those of you who were holding Bitcoin Cash ABC, you will see that it has all be converted over to eCash. In order to work with the adjusted decimal places, a conversion was in order. Thus, 1 BCHA is equivalent to 1,000,000 XEC coins.

Whether you wanted this to happen or not, if you were an owner of BCHA, your cryptocurrency has already been converted. The only thing you will need to do is run your wallet address through a wallet convertor to get your updated address. You can send BCHA and XEC between the wallets interchangeably for the time being.

Overall, whether or not you were a fan of BCHA, eCash is the new 2021 version and it looks like it will be here to stay. Although eCash has many positives as a cryptocurrency, it still has much to prove in the world of DEFI and only time will tell if it will really rise to the levels of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

This article was brought to you by the Bitcoin Dice on MintDice. Originally posted to the MintDice Cryptocurrency Blog.