Bitcoin Cash (BCH) splits into 2 tokens; BCH SV and BCH ABC

Two competing implementations of the protocol have now been activated. However, this particular ruleset change has two different competing client implementations that are incompatible — Bitcoin Cash SV and Bitcoin Cash ABC. It is unclear at this juncture which of the two will become the dominant software of the BCH network – or if two distinct chains will continue to co-exist in the long-term. Bitcoin Cash ABC side of the chain is three blocks ahead of the forked SV chain.

The implementation put out by leading Bitcoin Cash developer group Bitcoin Cash ABC introduces a series of technical upgrades to the network, such as a reordering of transactions to increase block capacity as well as additional code to support greater interoperability between cryptocurrencies.

Split!

The Bitcoin Cash blockchain has basically split in two spurring two new cryptocurrencies: BAB (running on Bitcoin Cash-ABC software) and BCHSV (running a protocol called Bitcoin Cash SV developed by nChain).

Bitcoin Cash undergoes network updates twice a year, but the latest one is proving to be particularly factious. There are two fundamentally different network update propositions – one developed by node software provider Bitcoin Cash-ABC, and another one developed by Craig Wright’s blockchain research firm nChain.

Bitcoin Cash ABC is supported by crypto evangelist Roger Ver, while Bitcoin Cash SV supporters are led by Craig Wright, who has previously declared himself to be the mysterious Bitcoin inventor Satoshi Nakamoto. The SV camp promotes radically changing the current BCH structure, where its split is designed to entirely overwrite the network scripts of Bitcoin Cash ABC and increase the BCH block size from 32MB to a maximum of 128MB.

Unpleasant verbal sparring

The issue of a BCH upgrade caused a heated dispute in the community. Wright engaged in verbal battles with Bitmain’s co-founder Jihan Wu, who accused Wright of being a Blockstream spy. Wright’s messages to ABC, Roger Ver, and Bitmain have turned into bankruptcy threats and accusations of being engaged in Silicon Road machinations and child pornography.

Currently, stats from Coin Dance indicate that most miners have signaled they will support the Bitcoin Cash SV implementation of Bitcoin Cash.

Hold your transactions

Even though the work has commenced, it is highly recommended not to transact on either chain until the dust has settled between both chains and one chain gets a significant lead over the other. There will be a lot of eyes on the network’s stability over the course of the next several hours and days to come.