Purchase Bitcoin Cash (BCH) with Georgian Lari (GEL) easily at Switchere and benefit from fast, secure transactions.
Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is a decentralized cryptocurrency that emerged as a fork from Bitcoin in 2017 to address Bitcoin’s scalability issues, aiming to support faster transactions and lower fees. Designed to be more efficient for day-to-day transactions, BCH increased block size limits from Bitcoin's 1MB to 8MB initially, later expanding further to 32MB, allowing the network to handle a higher volume of transactions at a lower cost. Its ecosystem includes wallet support, merchant adoption, and cross-border payments, making BCH a practical alternative for peer-to-peer digital transactions. Bitcoin Cash has also fostered a community focused on preserving the original vision of Bitcoin as "peer-to-peer electronic cash," prioritizing usability in payments over the store-of-value narrative that Bitcoin has adopted. Its robust development team continues to innovate with features such as Schnorr signatures and new smart contract capabilities, making BCH a unique asset in the cryptocurrency landscape.
The most common method involves using a cryptocurrency exchange that supports Georgian users. Often, this is a two-step process: first, use a GEL fiat on-ramp to purchase a major cryptocurrency like Bitcoin (BTC) or a stablecoin (USDT) via a local bank transfer. Second, trade that asset for Bitcoin Cash (BCH) on the exchange's trading platform. Completing KYC/AML verification is a standard requirement for these digital asset purchases.
Direct GEL/BCH trading pairs are uncommon and typically have very low liquidity. The market for exchanging Georgian Lari directly for altcoins like Bitcoin Cash is not well-developed. Therefore, traders almost always convert GEL into a more liquid asset like USDT or BTC first, and then use that asset's high-volume order book to acquire BCH. This ensures better pricing and faster execution of the trade.
After purchasing BCH, the most critical security step is to transfer your digital assets from the exchange to a personal digital wallet where you control the private keys. For significant amounts, a hardware wallet (cold storage) is the gold standard for secure trading and storage. For smaller amounts, a reputable non-custodial software wallet is suitable. Always back up your seed phrase securely and offline, and never share your private keys with anyone.
Bitcoin Cash is designed to function as digital cash, prioritizing low transaction fees and fast confirmation times. As a fork of Bitcoin, it increased the block size limit to allow more transactions per block. This focus on scalability aims to make BCH practical for everyday purchases and microtransactions, directly between users without needing a financial intermediary, thus fulfilling the 'peer-to-peer electronic cash' vision.
The Bitcoin Cash network supports tokenization through the Simple Ledger Protocol (SLP). This allows anyone to create, manage, and trade custom tokens on the BCH blockchain with very low transaction fees. Furthermore, its scripting capabilities, while simpler than platforms like Ethereum, enable features like CashFusion for enhanced transaction privacy and other basic smart contract functionalities.
Bitcoin Cash transaction fees are typically very low, calculated in satoshis per byte of transaction data. Due to its large block size limit, the network rarely experiences the congestion that causes high fees on other blockchains. When you send BCH from your digital wallet, the wallet software usually suggests an appropriate fee for timely block confirmation. This fee is paid to miners to include your blockchain transaction in the next block, and it's a fundamental part of the network's operation.