Bitcoin Cash (BCH): Assessing Its Potential as a Long-Term Store of Value and Medium of Exchange in 2025

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has long positioned itself as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system, emphasizing low fees and fast transaction speeds. As the cryptocurrency market evolves in 2025, investors are increasingly scrutinizing BCH's viability as both a store of value and a medium of exchange. This analysis evaluates BCH's on-chain metrics, adoption trends, and competitive positioning against Bitcoin and altcoins to determine its long-term potential.

On-Chain Metrics: Scalability and Security Trade-Offs

BCH's technical design prioritizes scalability, with a 32MB block size enabling over 100 transactions per second and average fees below $0.001. This contrasts sharply with Bitcoin's 1MB block size, which limits throughput to 3–7 transactions per second and drives fees to over $97,000 during peak demand. Such metrics make BCH a compelling option for everyday transactions, particularly in regions with unstable fiat currencies or high remittance costs.

However, BCH's network security lags behind Bitcoin's. While Bitcoin's hashrate exceeds 200 EH/s, BCH's hashrate hovers around 4.80 EH/s, with historical peaks near 5.21 EH/s. This lower hashrate, combined with a smaller miner base, increases vulnerability to 51% attacks during periods of low profitability. Miners can also shift hashing power between Bitcoin and BCH based on price dynamics, further exposing BCH to security risks.

Market Sentiment and Adoption Trends

BCH's market performance in 2025 reflects mixed signals. By November 2025, its market cap had dropped to $9.68 billion, down from $11.6 billion in September, despite a 30% price increase over the prior year. This volatility underscores BCH's struggle to gain institutional traction compared to Bitcoin's $1.65 trillion valuation.

Adoption trends highlight BCH's niche utility. Active addresses grew by 35% in Q4 2025, and on-chain transaction volume rose 50% year-over-year. The May 2025 Velma hard fork introduced smart contract capabilities, including VM Limits and BigInt CHIPs, aiming to bolster DeFi adoption. Yet, BCH's Total Value Locked (TVL) remains dwarfed by Ethereum and Solana, which dominate decentralized finance.

Comparative Positioning: Store of Value vs. Medium of Exchange

Bitcoin's dominance as a store of value is reinforced by its role as "digital gold," with 74% of circulating BTC illiquid and ~75% dormant for over six months. Institutional adoption, regulatory clarity, and post-halving supply dynamics have solidified Bitcoin's appeal as a hedge against inflation. In contrast, BCH's focus on transactional utility limits its store-of-value proposition. While its max supply of 21 million mirrors Bitcoin's, BCH lacks the same institutional backing or network security.

Against altcoins like Solana and Ethereum, BCH faces stiff competition. Solana's $78.39 billion valuation and 3.59 million X followers highlight its superior liquidity and community engagement. Ethereum's staking infrastructure and Layer 2 solutions further cement its role in DeFi. BCH's recent smart contract upgrades, while promising, must overcome an ecosystem gap to compete effectively.

Challenges and Future Outlook

BCH's path forward hinges on addressing three key challenges:
1. Adoption Barriers: Despite low fees, BCH's merchant adoption rate lags behind Bitcoin and altcoins like Litecoin.
2. Ecosystem Development: The Velma fork is a step forward, but BCH must attract developers and projects to build a robust DeFi ecosystem.
3. Regulatory Uncertainty: Macroeconomic shifts and evolving regulations could impact BCH's utility in cross-border payments.

Optimists point to BCH's approaching final supply phase (19.95M of 21M circulating) as a tailwind for value retention. Institutional interest, such as mF International's $500 million BCH treasury allocation, also signals growing confidence. However, sustained adoption will require BCH to differentiate itself from Bitcoin's store-of-value narrative while outperforming altcoins in transactional efficiency.

Conclusion

Bitcoin Cash remains a compelling option for low-cost, high-throughput transactions, particularly in emerging markets. Its on-chain metrics and recent upgrades position it as a viable medium of exchange, but its store-of-value potential is constrained by security vulnerabilities and limited institutional adoption. Investors seeking long-term value should prioritize Bitcoin's dominance while monitoring BCH's ability to innovate and capture niche use cases. In a fragmented crypto landscape, BCH's success will depend on its capacity to balance scalability with security and foster ecosystem growth.