Bitcoin SV (BSV) came into existence after a hard fork from the Bitcoin Cash (BCH) blockchain in 2018, which itself had split from the BTC blockchain the previous year due to the blocksize debate.
BSV positions itself as the embodiment of the original Bitcoin protocol and blueprint, as outlined by Satoshi Nakamoto in the famous white paper, early Bitcoin client software, and known writings attributed to Satoshi. The goal of BSV is to deliver scalability and stability that align with Bitcoin's initial portrayal as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system. It also focuses on establishing a distributed data network robust enough to support enterprise-grade advanced blockchain applications.
In pursuit of these objectives, it has eliminated artificial block size restrictions and re-enabled Script commands, alongside other technical functionalities that were historically disabled or limited by BTC blockchain protocol developers. This supposedly allows the network to process tens of thousands of transactions each second, maintaining extremely low fees for micropayments, and offering sophisticated features like tokens, smart contracts, computation, and various data use cases.
The BSV network claims it can achieve infinite on-chain scaling uniquely, staying closer to the original design of Bitcoin than any other blockchain.
Who are the founders of BSV (BSV)?
The BSV node software was developed by the blockchain tech company nChain, which has consistently released protocol updates to restore the original Bitcoin protocol's functionality. nChain now supports the BSV Infrastructure Team, which continues to enhance the node software and other tools for the BSV network.
Craig Wright, a former Chief Scientist at nChain, who asserts that he is Satoshi Nakamoto, the anonymous creator of Bitcoin, has backed BSV since the 2018 split from BCH, which occurred after contentious protocol changes were proposed by BCH developers.
Businessman Calvin Ayre is another prominent supporter of BSV, often looking for investment opportunities in companies and projects that are building on this blockchain.
Following the split from BCH, a non-profit industry association based in Switzerland, known as the BSV Association, was established to boost the global expansion and adoption of the BSV blockchain and its digital currency.
What makes BSV unique?
BSV sets itself apart from other Bitcoin variants by purportedly sticking to the original Bitcoin protocol and striving to realize the vision for Bitcoin as detailed in the white paper and other known writings of Satoshi Nakamoto. BSV seeks to offer a scalable blockchain platform suitable for efficient electronic cash transactions and distributed data applications that appeal to consumers, enterprises, and government entities.
BSV features an unrestricted block size, enabling it to scale according to market demands and support any application or payment network without the need for second-layer solutions. In 2021, the BSV network achieved a milestone by mining the world's first gigabyte-level blocks, surpassing 2 GBs by August 2021. To put this into perspective, 2 GBs is 2000 times larger than the BTC network's 1MB block limit. The block capacity of the BSV network is expected to continue expanding to accommodate more transaction volume and diverse data use cases.
With the testing of the latest node software, the BSV Infrastructure Team has reportedly demonstrated that the network can handle up to 1,000,000 transactions per second and expects this capacity to be reflected on the BSV mainnet, with further growth predicted. This capability positions BSV to rival and potentially surpass the payment processing power of platforms like VISA, and at a much lower cost to users.
Additionally, BSV offers a scalable, ready-to-use platform for blockchain application developers. It claims that its scalability will keep pace with user adoption, ensuring that transaction fees remain low and that interactions are processed swiftly.
How many BSV coins are there in circulation?
Following the original Bitcoin protocol, the total number of BSV coins will be capped at 21 million. New coins are released into circulation as rewards to BSV miners, who earn these rewards along with transaction fees for validating blocks.
Miner block rewards are halved at certain intervals to gradually shift miner dependency from these rewards to transaction fees and to reduce the influx of new tokens as they near their maximum limit.
How Is the BSV network secured?
The BSV network relies on the proof-of-work consensus mechanism, as described in the Bitcoin white paper, for its security. This process involves miners solving complex mathematical puzzles using their computers' processing power. The first to solve the puzzle receives the block reward and transaction fees, and their block gets added to the blockchain.
As other blocks are built upon this new block, the validity of the transactions it contains is confirmed by other nodes, making it exceedingly challenging, if not impossible, to alter.
Where can you buy BSV?
BSV is available on major cryptocurrency exchanges such as OKX, KuCoin, HTX, and others.
