The competitive advantages of Bitcoin Cash are clear (low fees, instant transactions) and the Bitcoin Cash advocates are advertising them constantly.
Bitcoin Cash is way ahead in technology terms from BTC having proven this throughout the years.
It can proceed with further scaling with minor changes that will not affect the current consensus.
Making comparisons with other networks is proper and helps researchers recognize the advantages of Bitcoin Cash.
The scaling debate is an integral event of Bitcoin and had its effect on the whole cryptocurrency space. I don't agree with the proposal of ignoring the scaling debate as the only approach to move forward, though.
It is another competitive advantage of Bitcoin Cash that has its place in discussions.
The scaling debate experience explains why Bitcoin Cash is Bitcoin.
We can’t erase part of Bitcoin’s history, especially when it is proven that Bitcoin Cash was correct with its approach.
Comparisons are important
More than anything, the scaling debate has to do with the censorship applied by the Blockstream devs and supporting admins, and the avoidance of constructive discussions inside the Bitcoin community.
There was no consensus since the community was divided and part of it replaced by a social media mechanism of shills and professional influencers supporting fake narratives.
Marketing is not just about promoting the merits of one side, but also about explaining the failures and the disadvantages of the other products to increase your argument.
Comparison between blockchains is a top argument. We have this strategic advantage with Bitcoin Cash that it will be a mistake not to explain to the masses that just joined the crypto field.
Consumers compare price, quality, brand name recognition and act accordingly. Marketing is important since it increases brand recognition.
Consumers when selecting between two products, would prefer the one they are more aware of.
Advertising creates this illusion for the consumer. Someone will select a recognizable brand even when this costs more. We strive to make people understand that Bitcoin Cash is better than BTC, yet BTC is currently carrying the top brand name and recognition.
Decentralization and scalability
Decentralization level matters, but it is not worth anything to the user that has to pay $5 -$50 for a transaction and wait for hours before it gets mined and added to the blockchain. BTC may seem more decentralized in the mining part, but it is highly centralized in the decision-making process of development. This is another part where Bitcoin Cash has differed and Bitcoin Cash proved it with the latest split (BCHABC) last year, that no unilateral development team would be in charge of decisions. Changes in Bitcoin Cash code require overwhelming consensus.
Bitcoin Cash transactions are instant with 0-confirmations. RBF (Replace By Fee) has been removed and is not an option on Bitcoin Cash. This addition was another one adding privilege to the early whales and increased inequality.
Bitcoin Cash has extremely low fees that don’t matter to the user. Usually, fees are less than $0.01 for a transaction.
Now, why should we not advertise this comparison?
I have lived almost the entire 2017 bull run, watching Bitcoiners debate between BCH and BTC and found reason only on the side of Bitcoin Cash. By the end of 2017, it was proven that BTC wasn’t working with fees reaching $50 and transactions taking days to proceed with the mempool clogged. A similar event occured this year, when Bitcoin fees reached a new ATH.
The failing arguments of BTC maximalists become obvious every time they make the mistake of debating. Usually, maxis will just mute opposing arguments and censor debates. However, even in this case with Mark Cuban, the BTC maximalists resorted to name calling opposing views as scammers, even when this was Mark Cuban, a popular entrepreneur and a billionaire.
The arguments of these neo-BTC maximalists are not convincing anyone. It is a mistake by the BTC side to debate. The weak arguments made are easily countered, and it only takes a person with enough influence to debunk them.
Of course, when the BTC maximalists make this mistake to debate with a person of the caliber of Mark Cuban, they can’t simply censor or mute him. The feeble attempt by these guys to pass Mark Cuban as a scammer right from the start, helped Cuban win the argument hands down.
Sadly, Bitcoin maximalists can only deceive newcomers into the field and censor any dialogue.
We should discuss and analyze deceptive tactics and narratives. We should also keep discussing the irrational praise of the authoritarian Bukele regime in El Salvador and the forced adoption of LN. Vitalik did that, and it is not just about marketing. There are higher concepts and values than just the number going up.
Marketing is not just about promoting and advertising one product, without caring about the market leader, the market share, or the positioning in the market.
It would be called “producting” then, not marketing. Comparisons are important to position the product at a better place in the consumer's mind.
Anyway, I view this approach, “not to mention the weaknesses of BTC” with a lot of skepticism, and frankly, all those that call for the scaling debate to end seem not to understand that this is part of research into Bitcoin that can't be excluded or ignored.
The real issue is this:
BCH has no coverage by the crypto media, no advertisement, very little social media exposure, absolutely no news coverage in mainstream news media, and at the very bottom of what people care about, no mentions by the popular YouTubers (or influencers in general).
Recipe for Success
I watched yesterday the @BitcoinCashPodcast Twitch stream, where Jeremy mentioned this Reddit post by ColinTalksCrypto:
Source: Reddit
I agree with many parts, but also have some reservations.
It is not the recipe for success
Just talking about the other networks will never be a recipe for success.
There is this requirement to explain history to newcomers. Bitcoin Cash is the Bitcoin that follows the Satoshi whitepaper and is moving in the direction it sets. It is more Bitcoin than BTC, which has abandoned the transactions space and now promotes custodial LN wallets as solutions to scaling.
Those in Bitcoin since 2012-2013 may not find it important, but to a newcomer, this is a serious matter. Especially when this newcomer is a retail or institutional investor not focused on pump and dump schemes but on the long-term potential of an asset.
Real investors, do not follow r/cryptocurrency, Youtube, or Twitter for investing advice.
Relying on the failure points of another blockchain...
Just “relying on the failure points of another blockchain” is not going to work. Comparisons and an explanation of the solution ought to be given.
With Bitcoin Cash, we always make these comparisons. We don’t just claim BTC has high fees and slow procedure that during times of network congestion it may take even days for the transaction to verify. It is always explained how Bitcoin Cash is the scaling solution with instant and virtually feeless transactions.
This is the strategic advantage explained whenever this comparison is given, and what makes Bitcoin Cash a winner. Although, for a free market, there is a lot more required to challenge for a better market dominance level.
...great public perception, promotion & technology.
The technology of Bitcoin Cash is undeniably better than BTC. The only argument from 2015, (6 years ago), was that bigger blocks reduce decentralization, something that six years later and the advancement in hard-drive capabilities, as well as the price reduction, is not even an argument. Bitcoin Cash was correctly addressing the block size issue and for BTC maximalists, it is today just a matter of accepting their mistake one day.
However, this is where better marketing is a requirement.
The media is suppressing Bitcoin Cash news and not even mentioning developments.
These indicators are where BTC and Ethereum thrive. There is simply NO COVERAGE AT ALL by the crypto news on Bitcoin Cash.
There is not even a single mention on SmartBCH and lately, the only Bitcoin Cash coverage is from some trader-authors performing TA. Only Bitcoin.com covers Bitcoin Cash developments since there is a relation with Roger Ver. The rest media are covering up all Bitcoin Cash positive news and only mentioning negative events.
(Read more: Crypto-News Websites: Massive Manipulation, Propaganda & Censorship of Bitcoin Cash)
Marketing multiplies the value of a product/asset. Bitcoin Cash has some great initiatives around the world (Australia, Venezuela, Argentina, Caribbean, Nigeria, SE Asia) with Satoshi Angels, Bitcoin Cash Argentina, Bitcoincash.site, etc.) promoting Bitcoin Cash and onboarding users and merchants.
This is about expanding the network effect, although we have to agree adoption is still moving slowly. Mass adoption is not an overrated illusion, but it takes longer than expected.
SmartBCH is a great leap forward into opening new fields and diversifying by exploring the vast potential of smart-contracts. While it is still in its infancy, it has the potential to rise but also has limited promotional exposure.
The part I agree with the most from this post by Colin, though, is this one:
"it must be an ORDER OF MAGNITUDE BETTER for incumbent participants to switch in any meaningful way."
As I understand it, incumbent participants are those having a crucial role inside a business or organization. Those currently in BTC that follow the greater narrative. To move into something different, they will need to find enough MOTIVE that will allow to completely move out of BTC and begin a new career as Bitcoin Cash incumbent participants.
These participants can be developers, miners, wallets, exchanges, users, investors, promoters, or any combination.
Colin for example as a cryptocurrency influencer (YouTuber) has certain followership and feels obliged to protect and sustain his position. It is not wise in business terms to immediately switch into promoting any blockchain, especially when this one is on bad terms with the market leader and the most popular cryptocurrency (BTC).
And this is not just for Colin, who actually is one of just a few that have discussed favorably Bitcoin Cash in the past.
This is the same for every top cryptocurrency YouTuber or even Twitter accounts.
Colintalkscrypto is not an emotional investor and with this post, he explained the bitter truth.
I've observed this last part since 2017. Popular crypto-YouTubers were practically trying to figure out if there was a middle ground. Most of them didn't want to risk losing their appeal to the BTC community, even though they understood the approach BTC was taking was rendering BTC virtually useless as a method of transactions.
Of course, most of the Crypto YouTubers are total sell-outs, have no morals, and feel no obligation to protect or educate their followers.
Conclusion
Bitcoin Cash had some interesting individuals that seemed to be highly influential, but they moved to ABC. I don’t know their current whereabouts, but I now perceive this loss of certain people from the BCH community as a reason for the price not matching the rest of the market.
Probably it will be their loss as well, or perhaps they had planned this exuberant rise after the rebrand to eCash and made enough money for life with the latest pump and dump.
If this was the case, then Bitcoin Cash missed nothing, and it worked well for both.
Bitcoin Cash is currently attractive to influential developers but I hope to see more written content from devs on read.cash or other publications.
It will be of great help to spend a few hours, perhaps once every month, and bring thoughts and suggestions to the wider community. Most of us are not qualified developers to explain code and developments or dev discussions are not usually publicly presented on read.cash. It would be great to read more from developers, either those working on the blockchain, or on SmartBCH.
Some of my followers and readers are early Bitcoin adopters, and I always value their opinion and experience. I’m relatively new to Bitcoin Cash. I have often explained my viewpoint of the Cryptoverse and the reasons I didn’t abandon this scene in 2017 when everything went down crashing. I will not elaborate further about that in this post, though.
I remember the powerful Bitcoin Cash from 2017 and the heat of the scaling debate. For most that kept being Bitcoin maximalists, this was just a better option to make more money. Rebuilding is a long road that has no turning.
Images:
Lead Image from: Unsplash, by Markus Spiske
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