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Bitcoin Cash: Big Blocks ‘Fail’ To Improve User Experience – Analysis

Wilma Woo | Jan 14, 2018 | 15:00

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The Bitcoin community has leveled new criticism against Bitcoin Cash (BCH) after data reveals its bigger blocks are not living up to developers’ promises.

‘Big Blocks Failed’

Analysis of BCH and Bitcoin (BTC) blocks which software advocate Ben Verret uploaded to Twitter Sunday suggests that Bitcoin blocks, despite being smaller, are verifying more transactions than BCH’s ‘big blocks’ approach.

The concept of bigger blocks providing greater scalability was a central feature touted by Bitcoin Cash supporters, including major figures Roger Ver and Jihan Wu.

Bigger Blockchain blocks would allow for more transactions to be processed at once, proponents say, thus giving users considerably faster and cheaper transactions.

Ver himself last month tweeted that Bitcoin Cash’s Blockchain could “easily” handle the combined volume of Bitcoin and Ethereum.

The current version of Bitcoin Cash can easily handle all of the Bitcoin Core and Ethereum transactions combined.

— Roger Ver (@rogerkver) December 29, 2017

According to Verret and others, however, the format is already failing, as Bitcoin’s smaller blocks are handling more transactions in the same period than Bitcoin Cash’s bigger ones.

“Big blocks failed,” he concluded after presenting results for three, six, twelve-hour and one-day periods.

Big blocks failed.

— Ben Verret [Boycott Conbase] (@verretor) January 14, 2018

Bitcoin Lows Ensnare Bitcoin Cash, Altcoin Markets

Despite technical considerations, BCH has nonetheless appreciated considerably in value over the past several weeks, attaining USD highs as BTC fell due to regulatory upheaval in major trading market South Korea.

The latest 24 hours’ trading has delivered more blanket losses, BCH and the major of other major altcoins following BTC as it lost around 6.6% to hit fresh 2018 lows of an average $13,480 per coin.

Ver meanwhile continues to focus on BCH’s use as both a currency and a store of value, echoing similar public comments by Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse, who went on record to mainstream media to suggest his altcoin fulfills currency requirements Bitcoin is currently unable to.

Bitcoin Cash, unlike Bitcoin Core, is both a medium of exchange and a store of value.

— Roger Ver (@rogerkver) January 12, 2018

Bitcoinist reported last week on rumors this week’s Wall Street bonus distributions would result in a fresh influx of cash into both Bitcoin and altcoin markets.

What do you think about the Bitcoin Cash block size analysis? Let us know in the comments below!

Images courtesy of Shutterstock, Twitter