Why Bitcoin Cash Is Outperforming Bitcoin and Other Major Cryptos in 2025

In 2025, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has emerged as a standout performer in the cryptocurrency market, outpacing Bitcoin (BTC) and other major digital assets in price growth, technical innovation, and institutional adoption. This divergence is driven by a confluence of factors: the Velma hard fork's transformative upgrades, strategic institutional investments, and a growing niche in payment and DeFi use cases.

Technical Innovation: Velma Fork Powers Smart Contract Evolution

Bitcoin Cash's May 2025 Velma hard fork marked a pivotal upgrade, addressing long-standing limitations in its smart contract capabilities. The Targeted Virtual Machine (VM) Limits replaced the rigid "201 operations per script" cap with a dynamic cost-based model, enabling more efficient resource allocation for complex operations like zero-knowledge proofs and post-quantum signatures. This change, coupled with a 10,000-byte stack size limit (up from 520 bytes), allows developers to build advanced contract structures without hitting arbitrary constraints.

The BigInt upgrade further removed numeric operand size restrictions, enabling high-precision arithmetic natively within contracts. This eliminates the need for inefficient workarounds that inflated transaction sizes and fees, directly reducing costs for users and developers. Together, these innovations position BCH as a scalable platform for DeFi applications such as automated market makers (AMMs) and decentralized stablecoins, while maintaining its core value proposition of fast, low-cost transactions.

A visualization of the Velma hard fork’s impact shows how BCH evolved into a powerful DeFi platform while retaining its transactional speed and low cost.

Institutional Adoption: mF International's $500M Bet

Institutional confidence in BCH received a major boost in 2025 when Hong Kong-based mF International (NASDAQ: MFI) raised $500 million to establish a Bitcoin Cash treasury. This move, which coincided with a 10% price surge to $528, underscored institutional recognition of BCH's utility as a high-throughput, low-fee blockchain. Unlike Bitcoin's broader institutional adoption-driven largely by ETF approvals and macroeconomic hedging-mF's direct investment highlights BCH's appeal as a programmable asset with tangible use cases in cross-border payments and smart contracts.

While Bitcoin's institutional adoption remains robust (with 86% of institutional investors now holding crypto), BCH's targeted upgrades and niche applications have created a unique value proposition. For example, BCH's transaction volume surged to $50 billion in 2025, a 30% year-over-year increase, driven by its role in micropayments and merchant ecosystems. This contrasts with Bitcoin's bearish trend, where its price fell below $85,000 amid broader market uncertainty.

A could offer insights into how institutional buying activity post-2025 Velma fork influenced the price action and volatility of Bitcoin Cash.

Market Positioning: Payments vs. Store of Value

Bitcoin Cash's market positioning has diverged sharply from Bitcoin's in 2025. While BTC faces challenges as a store of value-exacerbated by regulatory headwinds and macroeconomic volatility-BCH has solidified its role as a payment layer. Its average transaction fee of less than $0.10 (compared to Bitcoin's $1–$5 range) and 10-minute block time make it ideal for merchants and users in regions with unstable fiat currencies.

Data from the 2025 Global Crypto Adoption Index reveals that BCH's transaction volume, though still below Bitcoin's, has grown faster in real-world applications. For instance, BCH's adoption in cross-border remittances and e-commerce has outpaced Bitcoin's, particularly in markets like India and Southeast Asia, where low fees and fast confirmations are critical. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's dominance in the stablecoin-driven commerce sector-led by USDT and USDC-has not translated to broader utility for everyday transactions.

Contrasting Trajectories: BCH's Resilience vs. Bitcoin's Uncertainty

Bitcoin's 2025 performance has been marked by volatility, with its price dropping 4% in October and a fear and greed index hitting a record low of 11. Analysts attribute this to delayed regulatory clarity and a bearish macroeconomic environment. In contrast, BCH's price resilience-up 32.06% year-to-date-reflects its dual role as both a payment network and a smart contract platform.

Technical indicators suggest BCH is poised for further gains if it breaks above $575, a level that could attract more institutional buyers and developers. Meanwhile, Bitcoin's next bull cycle is projected to begin in 2026, leaving room for BCH to consolidate its gains in the interim.

Conclusion: A New Era for Bitcoin Cash

Bitcoin Cash's 2025 outperformance is not a fluke but a result of deliberate technical upgrades, strategic institutional backing, and a clear market niche. The Velma fork has positioned BCH as a viable alternative to Ethereum and Solana for DeFi, while its low fees and fast transactions continue to outcompete Bitcoin in payment use cases. As institutional investors like mF International double down on BCH's potential, the cryptocurrency is well-positioned to redefine its role in the evolving crypto ecosystem.

For investors seeking exposure to a blockchain that balances scalability, utility, and institutional credibility, Bitcoin Cash offers a compelling case in 2025-and beyond.