In this Coinversation with CoinGeek’s Becky Liggero, crypto pioneer James Howells talks about how his crypto journey started and why he’s a big proponent of Bitcoin Cash (BCH).

When James Howells talks about the virtues of Bitcoin Cash (BCH), you’re sure he knows what he’s talking about. After all, he’s been there. From the very beginning.

“I was one of the first six people on the network to mine Bitcoin. The difficulty level was zero. I launched my clients, started mining Bitcoin, and left it running overnight, until I was advised to stop by my ex-girlfriend, because the noise of the fans was keeping her up at night,” Howells told CoinGeek.

When he looks back to those times, and compares them to now, it is Bitcoin BCH that he sees working the way Satoshi Nakamoto’s cryptocurrency was supposed to.

“Bitcoin Cash represents the Bitcoin blockchain that I used back in 2009. When I first started mining, I started with my engineering work laptop and quickly realized that I needed a more powerful laptop. I began mining then with my personal laptop, which was a gaming machine, by then sent my original 400 coins that I’d mined from my engineering laptop to my personal laptop. That transaction fee cost me zero. If I want to do the same thing today, 400 coins being sent on the BTC chain, it costs me $5 in fee. In terms of technology, we have gone backwards,” Howells said.

This isn’t some negligible amount, especially when looking at the economy as a whole. “In the end of 2017, everybody knows about the [BTC] price increase but at the same time, fees were increasing rapidly. When Bitcoin Cash spikes in price, the fees don’t spike with it. That is the real Bitcoin that I used back in 2009, and it’s the real Bitcoin that many other early adopters have also backed and used,” he said.

Nowadays, Howells is busy promoting his miniPOS system, designed for businesses to accept BCH easily and securely. No one knows the value of taking care of one’s private keys, or the pain of losing them, as he does, after having lost millions of dollars’ worth of BTC.

“Unfortunately in 2013, the hard drive containing the private key was mistakenly thrown into the bin, which was then put into my local landfill or rubbish dump,” Howells said, probably the millionth time he’s told the story. He’s moved on, and is now focused on giving merchants and customers a great way to complete BCH transactions.

“miniPOS basically started as an open-sourced project between myself and three developers on Bitcoin Cash Slack channel. We came across this software, and we’ve now refined it into an actual product which can be purchased by merchants in order to accept Bitcoin Cash in store for goods and services, with checkout times in 10 seconds or less. There are absolutely zero private keys held on this device, so there’s no chance of losing any funds by using this device. The actual storeowners can leave the store, they can leave the cashier in charge, and be safe in the knowledge that the funds that they have received will not be stolen,” Howells said.

If you’re interested in helping the growth of merchant adoption of Bitcoin BCH, join the bComm Association, an industry group that intends to be the focal point for miners, merchants, exchanges, developers and members of the BCH community. Developers and merchants of the Bitcoin BCH community will also be on hand for the first CoinGeek Week happening in London in November. Members of bComm Association can avail CoinGeek Week tickets at discounted prices. To purchase tickets or learn more about CoinGeek Week Conference, visit the official website here.

Note: Tokens on the Bitcoin Core (segwit) Chain are Referred to as BTC coins. Bitcoin Cash (BCH) is today the only Bitcoin implementation that follows Satoshi Nakamoto’s original whitepaper for Peer to Peer Electronic Cash. Bitcoin BCH is the only major public blockchain that maintains the original vision for Bitcoin as fast, frictionless, electronic cash.

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