Today’s the Day: The Bitcoin Cash Hard Fork Is Now

Well, everybody, it’s fork day - Bitcoin Cash is about to get several software upgrades that should improve the network’s functionality (if all goes according to plan.) Implementation is scheduled for 16:00:00 UTC so be sure to get your popcorn popped and gather up the kids to watch the minutes roll over.

Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term ABC Releases Version 0.17.0 For May 15th Hard Fork Network Upgradehttps://t.co/3YFgpiS7LR

— Bitcoin (@Bitcoin) April 5, 2018

Sorry Folks--No New Coins

Hard forks (which is basically just a nerdy and esoteric way to say ‘software upgrade’) are typically a time of celebration. Why? Because traditionally, holders of a coin that undergoes a hard fork have their currency doubled--they keep their old coins and receive a new coin, the upgraded version. In fact, when Bitcoin Cash was hard forked off the Bitcoin Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term, BTC token holders woke up the next day with an equivalent amount of BCH tokens.

However, while today’s software upgrade is technically a hard fork, BCH holders will not have their coins doubled or receive any new cryptocurrency. Instead, the value of the old BCH blockchain will be canceled and token holders should be able to use their coins on the new blockchain without a hitch.

Those who are running Bitcoin Cash network nodes, however, should immediately upgrade to Bitcoin ABC 0.17.1.

Bitcoin ABC 0.17.1 has been released!https://t.co/FanRiTj7Mf

— Bitcoin ABC (@Bitcoin_ABC) April 27, 2018

Trending Down?

Because this hard fork does not bring new coins with it, the upward price movement that’s usually typical in the days leading up to a hard fork has been absent--in fact, the opposite has been true.

One factor that may have negatively affected the price of BCH is the decision of BL3P, the Netherlands’ largest cryptocurrency exchange, to drop the coin.

“Since there already was a planning for the removal of Bitcash the hard fork has become a reason and strict deadline for the removal of Bitcash from BL3P,” reads a blog post by the exchange.

At press time, Bitcoin Cash was trading at roughly $1,430 per coin.

Today’s Fork Brings Larger Block Size, Increased Data Carrier Capabilities

According to a blog post by BitcoinABC, the hard fork will bring several changes to the network, including an increase of the maximum block size to 32 MB. Previously, Bitcoin Cash’s max block size was 8 MB, which allowed as many as 61 transactions per second to be confirmed.

The upgrade will also add or reactivate several Bitcoin script operation codes, the most notable of which may be ‘OP_RETURN’, which will increase data carrier size to 220 bytes. This makes it more easily possible to create ‘colored coins’ and to create time-stamped data on the BCH blockchain.

Bitcoin Cash underwent its first hard fork in November 2017, just a couple of months after its inception. The initial hard fork improved issues with estimating mining difficulty on the BCH network.