If you’ve been looking at cryptocurrencies as a potential addition to your portfolio, then you’ve probably heard of bitcoin and might even have a vague idea that other cryptocurrencies exist. Then when people start talking about bitcoin cash, it’s natural to become a little confused if you haven’t been following the cryptocurrency market every step of the way. It doesn’t take long to get up to speed on the world of cryptocurrency, so here’s a crash course on two of the most well-known digital currencies people are investing in.

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Bitcoin vs bitcoin cash: What’s the difference?

Those who haven’t studied digital currencies much might think that bitcoin and bitcoin cash are the same, but they are actually two different forms of cryptocurrency. The former was the first cryptocurrency and it was created many years ago by an anonymous programmer who goes by the pseudonym Satoshi Nakamoto. It took a few years for that first digital currency to begin capturing attention, although it didn’t take long for a few others to start arriving on the scene.

Bitcoin cash was created in August 2017 by what enthusiasts refer to as a “hard fork.” This occurs whenever one cryptocurrency splits into two, creating a second one distinguishable from the first. Essentially, bitcoin’s code was changed, which caused a split and the creation of a second cryptocurrency. Cash isn’t even the only one created by a fork from the first cryptocurrency to attract mass attention. One sister digital currency, if you will, is bitcoin gold, which was created by a fork in November.

Public ledgers

Other digital currencies such as ethereum are totally separate and were created upon the same principle of blockchain technology, but using separate code and with different purposes in mind. All digital currencies are “mined” using powerful computers solving complex puzzles, and there can ever be only a limited number of them created. Granted, we’re still talking about millions of them, but there’s still a limit on the number that can ever exist.