Roger Ver, known as "Bitcoin Jesus," is the most prominent early advocate and investor in Bitcoin Cash. He was among the first major investors in the Bitcoin ecosystem and has consistently promoted BCH since its creation. Jihan Wu, co-founder of Bitmain, was another key supporter. The project is maintained by multiple development teams including Bitcoin Unlimited and Bitcoin ABC, with ongoing contributions from the global open-source community.

BCH launched on August 1, 2017 via a hard fork of Bitcoin, aiming to restore peer-to-peer cash functionality. In May 2018, its block size limit was increased from 8MB to 32MB. In November 2018, BCH underwent another split that produced Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV). In 2025, the network completed the Velma hard fork, introducing smart contract enhancements. BCH briefly entered the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market cap in late 2024 amid a significant price rally.

BCH operates on a Proof-of-Work consensus mechanism using the SHA-256 hash algorithm, identical to Bitcoin. Its key distinction is a 32MB block size (compared to Bitcoin's 1MB-4MB), enabling higher transaction throughput and lower fees. The network targets a 10-minute block time. For smart contract functionality, BCH supports SmartBCH, an EVM-compatible sidechain that provides Ethereum-compatible development environment while keeping the main chain lean and focused on payments.

BCH follows a strict maximum supply cap of 21 million coins, identical to Bitcoin. The annual inflation rate is approximately 0.85%, with circulating supply standing at around 19.98 million BCH. There is no pre-mining, no token sales, and no developer treasury built into the protocol. Transaction fees are burned, creating a mild deflationary pressure on the network.

BCH employs a community-driven governance model known as the CHIP (Bitcoin Cash Improvement Proposal) process. Any protocol upgrade must gain broad consensus among miners, node operators, developers, and the wider community before activation. Unlike Bitcoin, which has more informal governance, BCH has deliberately institutionalized a more transparent decision-making framework. The network maintains decentralization through globally distributed mining and node operators.

BCH is primarily designed for peer-to-peer payments, including retail transactions, remittances, and cross-border transfers. Its low transaction fees make it suitable for micropayments. The ecosystem includes hundreds of merchants accepting BCH directly. SmartBCH enables decentralized finance applications, NFTs, and gaming. The Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP) supports fungible and non-fungible tokens on the BCH chain. Adoption is notably strong in regions with high remittance demand and underbanked populations.