Bitcoin Cash (BCH) was created in August 2017 as a result of a hard fork of the Bitcoin blockchain. The hard fork was initiated by a group of developers who were concerned that the increasing demand for Bitcoin was causing transaction fees to rise and making it less practical as a means of payment. They believed that increasing the block size limit from 1MB to 8MB would enable more transactions to be processed at lower fees and make Bitcoin more usable for everyday transactions.

Bitcoin Cash inherited the transaction history of the original Bitcoin blockchain up until the point of the hard fork, and from then on, it became a separate cryptocurrency. The fork was contentious, with some members of the Bitcoin community supporting it and others strongly opposing it. Nevertheless, Bitcoin Cash gained significant adoption and began to build its own ecosystem of wallets, exchanges, and merchants.

One of the key features of Bitcoin Cash is its larger block size limit, which allows it to handle more transactions per block than Bitcoin. This means that it can process transactions faster and with lower fees. Bitcoin Cash also uses a different difficulty adjustment algorithm than Bitcoin, which allows it to adjust its mining difficulty more rapidly in response to changes in network hashrate. This makes it more resilient to sudden changes in the mining landscape.

Since its creation, Bitcoin Cash has undergone several upgrades and improvements. In 2018, it implemented the CashAddr address format, which improved address legibility and reduced the risk of errors in transacting. In 2019, it introduced Schnorr signatures, which enable more efficient and private transactions. In 2020, it implemented the Avalanche consensus algorithm, which improves transaction confirmation times and reduces the risk of double-spending attacks.

Bitcoin Cash has gained a significant following among users and merchants who value its fast and low-cost transactions. It is accepted by many online and offline merchants, and its user base continues to grow.