BTC → BCH

What makes BTC -> BCH specific

BTC and BCH share a common ancestor up to block 478558 (August 2017), which means address formats can look deceptively similar. BCH uses the CashAddr format (prefix 'bitcoincash:' followed by q or p) but legacy P2PKH addresses starting with '1' remain valid on both chains. Sending BCH to a BTC-only wallet (or vice versa) using a legacy address is a common, irreversible loss vector - always confirm the destination wallet recognizes the BCH chain specifically.

Liquidity for this pair is moderate. BCH sits well below BTC in market depth, so large swaps (>5 BTC equivalent) can show meaningful slippage on floating rates. BCH confirmation times average 10 minutes per block like BTC, but mempool congestion is rare - fees typically run under 1 sat/byte, so receiving BCH is fast and cheap. The bottleneck is almost always the BTC side: 1-3 confirmations on the deposit before the swap engine releases BCH.

Choosing a desk for this pair

• Confirm the desk sends to a CashAddr - some older services still default to legacy format, which works but increases user error risk.
• Check minimums: BTC -> BCH minimums are usually pegged to BTC network fee viability, often around 0.001 BTC.
• Prefer fixed-rate quotes if BTC mempool is congested; floating rates can drift 1-2% during a slow confirmation.
• Read the refund policy. If you under-send or miss the rate window, refunds go back to a BTC address you specify - some desks require this upfront, others ask after the fact.

Practical tips: size your BTC fee for 1-block inclusion if you took a fixed-rate quote with a 30-60 minute window. Avoid swapping during BTC fee spikes; the desk's quoted rate already accounts for their withdrawal cost, but your deposit fee is on you. For privacy, use a fresh BCH receive address - chain analysis on BCH is less developed than BTC but not absent.