I was discussing the possible price crossover between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash with a colleague just a few days ago after I found out about the 'New York Agreement' which had been signed by several major exchanges.
If you read about the New York Agreement and you understand the technical implications of it then you should have a very clear idea about what is going to happen when the exchanges start honoring that agreement.
> We agree to immediately support the following parallel upgrades to the bitcoin protocol, which will be deployed simultaneously and based on the original Segwit2Mb proposal:
- Activate Segregated Witness at an 80% threshold, signaling at bit 4
- Activate a 2 MB hard fork within six months
Where does Bitcoin Cash fit in here, and what's going to happen when the exchanges start honouring it? Was BCH the hard fork they talked about? What hasn't been honoured yet?
The hard fork the NY agreement mentions was a protocol upgrade that was scheduled for 11/16/2017. The Segwit upgrade took hold, but the second "2mb hard fork" part proved very contentious, and was later cancelled/suspended citing lack of community support. (That fork was frequently called B2X or S2X).
There is some argument about who all actually signed on to the NY agreement - whether they represented the community at large, or just a smaller non-binding group. The contentiousness was overtly regarding the "2mb" increase's long-term consequences, but IMO it may have also been because adopting it would have essentially kicked out the existing software development group, replacing with a smaller less experienced group.
If the hard fork had happened, the NY agreement asserted it would have simply upgraded the BTC protocol; rather than create a new coin. Agreeing exchanges would have had to go along with the protocol upgrade. But concensus never formed, particularly among exchanges & businesses that didn't sign the NYA.
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Bitcoin Cash / BCH was a separate coin that forked off of BTC around the same time as the NYA, but wasn't part of the NYA. It increased the block size (the "2mb" bit), but explicitly rejects segregated witness and some related changes. It's kinda odd it happened, because those involved in BCH were leaders in the NY agreement itself; so BCH be seen as an early repudiation of the NY agreement by it's own champions.
The New York Agreement was canceled the other day.
Also, comments like "if you understand the technical implications of it then you should have a very clear idea about what is going to happen" are really unhelpful, like a no-op soaked in condescension.
If you read about the New York Agreement and you understand the technical implications of it then you should have a very clear idea about what is going to happen when the exchanges start honoring that agreement.