Purse and Bitcoin Cash: Everything You Need To Know
We have exciting news!
This week, Purse is integrating Bitcoin Cash!
Now you can earn and buy with Bitcoin Cash on Purse.
In this article, we are going to explain why Purse is integrating Bitcoin Cash — and explain everything that is included in our MultiCoin update!
So what’s the difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash?
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer, decentralized, unregulated electronic currency. Transactions are recorded on the Bitcoin blockchain, which is a public ledger.
In 2017: the users of Bitcoin became concerned about increasing transactions fees and waiting times.
In response to these issues, the Bitcoin community decided that action needed to be taken.
On August 1, 2017: the developers of the bitcoin implementation, bitcoin-abc, initiated a hard fork in the blockchain.
The hard fork split the blockchain into 2 parts — Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH). BCH is an updated version of the original Bitcoin software. It follows different rules than BTC.
BCH is updated so that each block holds more data, meaning that more transactions can be processed per second — an increase from 1 MB to 8 MB per second.
BCH also implements a new difficulty adjustment algorithm (DAA), which allows the blockchain to smoothly adjust to a changing number of miners and users on the network.
Segregated Witness (SegWit for short) and BTC:
Meanwhile…
On August 24, 2017: supporters of the original Bitcoin blockchain protocol supported a soft fork called Segregated Witness (or SegWit).
SegWit is the process through which transaction signature data is separated from the Bitcoin blockchain to free-up space for more transactions.
This creates extra space for more transactions on the blockchain.
On the Bitcoin blockchain, each block can only hold-up to 1 MB of data.
SegWit helps create space for more transactions by removing the extra data taken-up by the digital transaction signature.
Due to these developments in the original Bitcoin blockchain — Bitcoin Cash and SegWit) — BCH and BTC are not the same currency (even though they originate from the same genesis block).
This also means that the two currencies are neither compatible or interchangeable.
Bitcoin Cash does not use segwit.
This means that Bitcoin (segwit) wallets are not compatible with Bitcoin Cash wallets.
There have been cases where users of the two currencies have accidentally sent them to the wrong wallet.
For instance, if you sent your BTC to a BCH wallet that does not support the BTC network, you could lose all of your coins!
To prevent this accident from occurring, you can transfer crypto funds by using the latest, updated forms of BTC and BCH address.
The updated version of the BTC address is called a SegWit address.
The updated version of the BCH address is called a CashAddr address.
Here are some wallets that are compatible with the more secure Bitcoin CashAddr addresses:
And now…
Purse!
Purse and Bitcoin Cash integration:
Why is Purse taking Bitcoin Cash?
Last year, the price of conducting a transaction in Bitcoin was close to $50/per transaction (August 2017). Now, that price is …
As of 6/26/2018:
The average transaction fee of Bitcoin was $1.035
The average transaction fee of Bitcoin Cash was $0.055
Here is a chart that shows the current and historical transactions fees of BTC and BCH.
Even though the average transaction fees for Bitcoin are currently low, the network fees while using Purse (on the typical $100 shopping expense) average to around $5 per order.
Purse is integrating Bitcoin Cash so that users have another cryptocurrency option — and to help users save money on the cost of transaction fees that can come with using Bitcoin.
Now…
you can shop and earn with Bitcoin Cash on Purse!
All About Purse’s Latest MultiCoin Update:
Part 1: Earning
Earners can now choose to earn either Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash.
The Major Change:
You can now select to earn either Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash.
It does not matter which currency you select — the same offers will appear on the screen (and the values will be adjusted for the currency you wish to earn).
Warning:
Once you accept an offer, you cannot change the coin that you be receiving for the order.
There’s more :
The order book displays offers according to the percentage above market rate that you are buying BTC or BCH.
Part 2: Spending
Our checkout process does not change until you click “ proceed to payment”.
New: you can select either Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash to complete you payment.
Here is how it works:
- Select a currency.
- A QR code and CashAddr address will appear on the screen.
- You can either scan the QR code or copy and paste the address into the BCH wallet that you are paying with.
Major change:
The address being displayed is a Bitcoin Cash CashAddr address.
This address can only be copied and pasted into a BCH wallet.
Great News:
This new address format makes it impossible for users to accidentally sending BCH to a BTC wallet (which results in a total loss of funds).
However:
Your wallet may not recognize the new address format.
If this happens:
1. Select “try a different format”.
2. The Legacy Bitcoin Cash address will be displayed on the screen.
Warning: Using the old format still makes it possible for users to accidentally send currencies to the wrong wallet.
Making this mistake will result in a loss of funds — it is currently impossible for us to retrieve them.
Part 3: A new wallet!
Now: The Wallet is separate from your Account.
At the top of the page: displayed is the total amount of cryptocurrency funds you have in your wallet (in US dollars).
Also:
There is a bar that displays the ratio BTC to BCH that you have in your wallet.
In addition: the wallet now displays the latest address format for BTC.
The new format for BTC, the Segwit BTC address format, makes it impossible for users to accidentally send BTC to a BCH wallet.
Once again: if your wallet does not use the new address formats for BTC or BCH, you can use the old address format.
Warning: using the old legacy address formats makes it possible to accidentally send coins to the wrong wallet (ex. BTC to a BCH wallet).
If this happens, we cannot retrieve your lost funds.
You can now Shop on Purse using Bitcoin Cash and a Credit Card!
Now: You can use Simplex the pay on Purse!
About Simplex:
Simplex is a payment service that helps facilitate the purchase of Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash.
Its services focus on preventing fraud and reducing buyback charges for businesses.
Simplex makes buying cryptocurrencies more secure — and allows you to worry less about fraud!
Are you ready to get started?
You can start earning BCH on Purse right now!
Or if you want to start spending, you will have to purchase some BCH from an exchange.
Here are a few well-known exchanges where you can buy Bitcoin Cash:
Coinbase does not charge a fee for using its wallet. However, there may be additional fees upon transaction (ex. miner’s fees, payment service fees, etc.). Coinbase states that fees will vary — and will be noted during checkout. For more info, click here.
Kraken states that transaction fees will be applied on a per-trade basis. You can find more info about fees here.
Shapeshift does not charge additional fees for its services — besides miner fees (which every exchange charges).
For more information on Shapeshift’s transaction fees, click here.
Here is Uphold’s pricing/fees page. When buying Bitcoin Cash with the US Dollar, users will be charged a service fee of 0.65%.
You Can Start Earning and Spending Bitcoin Cash on Purse Now!
We hope that you are as excited about the latest updates as we are!
Go to Purse and start earning and spending BCH today!
