Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Becomes 2025's Best Major Performer

Key Highlights

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) emerged as the top performer among major cryptocurrencies in 2025, delivering approximately +35% year-to-date gains.
The surge in BCH price was fueled by market rotation into undervalued assets, whale accumulation, the May 2025 Velma hard fork, and speculation around Grayscale’s September 2025 ETF filing.
Despite lacking hype, institutional backing, and community traction, BCH illustrates crypto’s unpredictability where simple utility can occasionally outshine narrative-driven leaders.

The year 2025 has been full of surprises in the volatile world of cryptocurrencies. While leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum rose to yearly highs, their gains vanished into thin air as the year came to an end. In the meantime, one overlooked contender has stolen the spotlight: Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

With a year-to-date gain of nearly 35%, BCH has not only outperformed Bitcoin this year but also surged ahead of top altcoins. While only two of the top cryptocurrencies have posted positive gains YTD—BNB up 23% and TRX nearly 11%—gains in BCH price have upsetted harcore Bitcoin maxis and decentralized finance (DeFi) advocates altogether.

Why? Let’s unfold.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) price analysis

At the time of writing, BCH was trading at $599.5—up 11% in the December month alone. Its market capitalization of $11.97 billion positions the cryptocurrency at 11th spot, a noticeable place in the industry, worth roughly $3 trillion. However, its market share is negligible when compared to Bitcoin’s $1.76 trillion.

However, BCH is down 86% from its all-time high of $4,355, marked eight years ago on December 20, 2017. Since then, the Bitcoin-sister has not attained any new highs, gaining merely to $1,398 in the 2021 bull run. But the chapter we have opened today is its YTD (year-to-date) gains in 2025, where it has clearly crushed Bitcoin and tens of other leading altcoins.

Bitcoin Cash (BCH) Vs. Bitcoin: Price comparison for 2025

Entering 2025, both assets started on relatively even footing after shared movements in prior years. Bitcoin kicked off around $93,500, buoyed by institutional adoption and ETF inflows, while BCH hovered near $450. Early in the year, the two moved in tandem, reflecting broader market optimism, as shown in the TradingView chart below.

However, divergence became stark from mid-year onward. Bitcoin peaked at new all-time highs but faced profit-taking and macroeconomic pressures, closing December 29 around $87,000—for a net loss of about 5.5%. In contrast, BCH climbed steadily, reaching $600 by 30th December, delivering a solid 35% return. This outperformance highlights a classic market rotation: as capital flowed out of overextended leaders like BTC, it sought “value pockets” in underappreciated forks like BCH.

BCH vs. Top altcoins

BCH’s gains stand out even more when stacked against the top cryptocurrencies by market cap. This TradingView chart provides a clear visual summary of cryptocurrency performance throughout 2025, comparing BCH against several major altcoins on a year-to-date (YTD) basis.

The overlaid percentage change lines reveal a striking divergence: while most prominent cryptocurrencies ended the year deep in negative territory, BCH stands out as one of the few with positive returns. Specifically, BCH shows a YTD gain of approximately +35.18%, placing it firmly in the green amid a late-year market correction that erased early gains for many assets.

In contrast, high-profile coins like Cardano (ADA) at -58.87%, Solana (SOL) at -34.85%, Ethereum (ETH) at -11.36%, Dogecoin (DOGE) at -60.50%, and XRP at -9.48% all finished significantly lower, highlighting the broad-based weakness that characterized the second half of 2025.

TRON (TRX) posted modest gains of +11%, but BCH’s nearly 35% placed it among the rare bright spots in the major league. The rise also helped BCH temporarily enter the top-10 crypto assets by market cap in early December with reaching the market cap of $12 billion.

For more clarity, the table below shows yearly performance of top 10 cryptocurrencies, where many high-profile assets erased early gains due to year-end volatility.

Rank by Performance	Cryptocurrency	Symbol	YTD Performance in 2025
1	Bitcoin Cash	BCH	+35.18%
2	BNB	BNB	+21.35%
3	TRON	TRX	+12.91%
4	Bitcoin	BTC	-6.5%
5	XRP	XRP	-9.48%
6	Ethereum	ETH	-11.36%
7	Solana	SOL	-34.85%
8	Cardano	ADA	-58.87%
9	Dogecoin	DOGE	-60.50%

How BCH topped all in 2025: Reasons behind its surge

In this run, several factors converged to propel BCH’s unexpected rally, blending speculation with subtle fundamentals. Firstly, market rotation and speculation played a central role. After Bitcoin’s dominance pushed many assets to multi-year highs early in 2025, investors rotated profits into lagging coins. BCH, trading at a fraction of BTC’s price despite shared roots, became an attractive “value play.”

Second, whale accumulation and liquidity flows fueled momentum following the BCH ETF filing by Grayscale in September 2025. This move influenced large holders to scoop up BCH during dips, with on-chain data showing increased activity and steadier hashrate. With this move, derivatives trading also added speculative fire for amplifying the asset’s short-term moves.

Third, marginal but meaningful upgrades bolstered confidence. The May 2025 Velma hard fork introduced enhancements like improved smart contract capabilities (VM Limits and BigInt), positioning BCH to better support DeFi and tokens. Rising on-chain usage—faster, cheaper transactions—drew practical adopters. However, the DeFi ecosystem on Bitcoin Cash remains next to nothing with a total value locked (TVL) of merely $8.49 million and hardly four active protocols.

Lastly, broader macro tailwinds, like anticipated rate cuts, indirectly supported risk assets. Yet BCH’s resilience stood out: it suffered smaller drawdowns than peers and recovered stronger.

History of Bitcoin Cash (BCH)

While we have covered “everything price” of Bitcoin Cash, let’s not miss its fascinating backstory. BCH’s origin traces to one of the most contentious debates in crypto history. Launched in August 2017, as a hard fork of Bitcoin, BCH emerged from disagreements within the Bitcoin community over scalability. Bitcoin’s original design, with its 1MB block size limit, led to congestion, high fees, and slow transaction times during peak periods.

At the time, proponents of larger blocks argued that Bitcoin should prioritize being “peer-to-peer electronic cash,” as described in Satoshi Nakamoto’s whitepaper. Meanwhile, developers from Bitcoin Core argued that Bitcoin should adopt solutions like Lightning Network. One group wanted Bitcoin to remain as an investment asset while others wanted it to become a peer-to-peer digital currency.

This scuffle led to a fork, separating two chains: the original Bitcoin (BTC), which adopted solutions like Segregated Witness (SegWit) to improve efficiency without increasing block size, and Bitcoin Cash, which raised the block limit to 8MB (later expanded to 32MB). This allowed BCH to process significantly more transactions per second at much lower fees—often under $0.01—making it more practical for everyday payments.

The resilience paradox: No hype, yet top performer

This is not a promotion of BCH—far from it. What’s fascinating is the irony. Bitcoin enjoys unwavering support from influential leaders like Michael Saylor, massive ETF inflows, and a narrative as institutional-grade “digital gold.” Its ecosystem boasts innovations like Ordinals, Runes, and BTCFi. Ethereum dominates DeFi and NFTs. Solana and others grab headlines with speed and memes.

BCH? It lacks that traction. Divided community post-forks (including Bitcoin SV in 2018), limited developer hype, and perceptions as a “dinosaur coin” have kept it in the shadows. Its adoption for payments remains niche, while facing stiff competition from faster chains.

Yet in 2025, this low-profile asset—with no celebrity endorsements or viral narratives—delivered the best returns among majors. It highlights crypto’s unpredictability: sometimes, simple utility and market dynamics trump hype. BCH’s outperformance reminds us that resilience can come from sticking to basics, even without the spotlight.