Bitcoin
Using Electron Cash
2017-09-27Introduction
For Bitcoin Cash download Electron Cash at www.electroncash.org. It was forked from Electrum (electrum.org) which is for Bitcoin. These can be installed on Windows, Mac, or Linux.
Create a Wallet
After opening Electron Cash choose to Auto Connect. Next you will be prompted to create a wallet. You can use default_wallet or choose a different name. Next choose a Standard wallet. Then Create a new seed.
Keep your seed secure. For a standard wallet I don't recommend putting large amounts of money. As mentioned in securing your wallet, you should use multi-signature wallets for larger amounts of money.
It is highly recommended that you set a password. This will encrypt the wallet file saved on your computer. Viruses and malware can search your hard drive for wallets, so encrypting them will protect you in that scenario. If you do not set a password it cannot encrypt the wallet.
Electron Cash Settings
You should now have your wallet created. There are a few settings that I recommend changing. Open preferences via Tools > Preferences.
First preference I change is to enabled Edit fees manually on the Fees tab. This allows overriding transaction fees.
On the Transactions tab I disable Use change addresses. Change addresses exist to add a layer of pseudo-privacy and can often lead to confusion. Here's an article explaining some of the drawbacks. Note that this is the only setting that is wallet specific. If you create multiple wallets, this would need to be set on all of them.
On the Appearance tab I change the Base unit to BCC. I find working in mBCC can be confusing when most things are measured in BCC.
And lastly, on the Fiat tab I change the Fiat currency to USD. After that you can close the preferences.
One other thing I like to do is show Addresses and Coins. You can do this by going to View > Show Addresses and View > Show Coins.
Receiving Bitcoin Cash
Now that you have a wallet created and all preferences set, you're ready to receive money. Go to the Receive tab and copy the Receiving address.
You can send money to the address you copied and it will arrive in your wallet. Send a small amount first to test everything was done correctly. When your wallet is sent money, it will first show up in your history as an Unconfirmed transaction. This means it has not yet been included in a block.
Side Rant About Unconfirmed Transactions and Bitcoin Core
In Bitcoin Cash, unconfirmed (0-conf) transactions can be trusted. There is essentially no risk the transaction will be double spent. In contrast, this is not the case with Bitcoin Core.
Bitcoin Core has something called replace-by-fee (RBF). RBF allows a transaction to be replaced later as long as a higher fee is used. Because of this, 0-conf transactions cannot be trusted for Bitcoin Core. This would mean a vendor cannot safely let their customer leave until a block is mined without risking losing the money. Since it takes on average 10 minutes for a block to be mined, this makes Bitcoin Core unusable for quick transactions.
Bitcoin Cash has removed this and returned to the way Bitcoin originally was. Not only can you safely receive 0-conf transactions, but you can turn around and spend the money you received before the next block is mined also, basically meaning there is no limit to the velocity of money. For more info, here's a short Reddit discussion about the removal of RFB in Bitcoin Cash.
Sending Bitcoin Cash
Now that you have received Bitcoin Cash, you can send it. Get an address from the person you want to send BCC to. Go to the Send tab and enter it into the Pay to field. Enter the Amount you want to send and use the slider to choose the Fee. Usually I set the fees a little lower than the default.
Click Send once you're ready. You can also Preview the transaction before sending if you want. If you preview, you will need to separately Sign and Broadcast the transaction. When you send the transaction it will ask you for the password you setup when you created the wallet.
As with the transaction to receive Bitcoin, the transaction to send isn't immediately included in a block. Until then it will be labeled as Unconfirmed.
And that's it!
Conclusion
Now you've successfully created a wallet, received Bitcoin, and then sent it. This should cover the basics of using an Electron Cash wallet. For larger amounts of money, it's good to have additional security. To learn about additional measures you can take, read securing your wallet.