The cryptocurrency Bitcoin Cash (BCC) ranks as the third most valuable altcoin, just after a day splitting from Bitcoin. With a market capitalization of more than $7.7 billion, BCC trails just Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) after passing Ripple’s $6.7 billion capitalization.
What BCC did was forking Bitcoin and its blockchain. As a 'duplicate' of Bitcoin, it shares the same history, so all previous transaction in BCC blockchain are indentical to Bitcoin's. But here, BCC can be totally independent from Bitcoin in future transactions and balances.
After BCC splits from Bitcoin, Bitcoin owners were given equal amounts of BCC. Then it's up to the owner to decide whether to hold it, exchange it to another currency, or withdraw it.
But since speculations are fueling its growth, many investors are selling off their Bitcoins to purchace BCC, betting it to be more valuable in the future.
There are plenty of cyptocurrencies out there. Some are legitimate and some are pretty much just copycats trying to make a quick money. Here, BCC is just another modified cryptocurrency, but a fork of Bitcoin's core. In the past, there were other cryptocurrencies that also forked Bitcoin, but they were nowhere as near as valuable as BCC.
The only problem for BCC is that there is no out-of-the-box infrastructure that supports it. The cryptocurrency needs them in order to be as easy as Bitcoin. What this means, BCC is only as valuable as more investors are assigning themselves to it.
What makes investors decide, include how easy the currency can be obtained, the liquidity of the asset, and easy can it be used for real-world transactions.