While leading Layer-1 (L1) blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, and BNB Chain dominate the headlines, Bitcoin Cash (BCH) has emerged as a 'quiet star'.
BCH is likely one of the few Layer-1 altcoins that will end 2025 with strong positive performance. This scenario is supported by several key drivers.
How Bitcoin Cash (BCH) outperformed other Layer-1 blockchains in 2025
Data shows that BCH has risen nearly 32% since the beginning of the year, making it the best-performing Layer-1 altcoin. It has surpassed competitors like Tron, Ethereum, and Solana.
Particularly, BCH has not been at the center of the ETF and strategic reserves (DATs) narrative. Altcoins like ETH, SOL, and XRP benefit from expected accumulation by institutional players, but BCH has risen without these catalysts.
This performance highlights BCH's intrinsic strength as a Bitcoin fork that has survived multiple market cycles.
At the current level, with the price above $570, BCH could end 2025 higher than the opening value of $430 at the beginning of the year.
Many analysts, however, expect more. They believe that BCH will break the current $600 resistance level and make a new annual high.
"When the price clearly exceeds the resistance zone of $610–650, BCH is likely to face a significant surge – like ZEC's rally in September," investor Karamata predicted.
If BCH exceeds $650, we could see a two-year peak. A rise above $720 could indicate the highest level since 2022. Several on-chain factors also support this outlook.
Positive signals support a possible BCH breakthrough.
One significant positive signal is the increase in Bitcoin Cash's average transaction amount in December 2025.
BitInfoCharts' historical data shows that the average transaction amount rose several times above $1.34 million while BCH's price hovered around $600.
This is the highest average transaction amount in BCH's history. It reflects an increase in the volume of large transactions, possibly from major investors or whales, and indicates genuine capital flow into the network.
Additionally, trading data from spot markets confirms this trend. CryptoQuant's Bitcoin Cash Spot Average Order Size chart shows that whale activity has long dominated the order book.
Large whale orders have once again been visible over the past two months as BCH has hovered near the $600 resistance level.
In addition to trading volume numbers, BCH remains one of the most used altcoins for payments. According to Cryptwerk, BCH is in fourth place, accepted by 2,468 vendors – ranking just after BTC, ETH, and LTC.
These factors could facilitate a successful breakthrough and take BCH to new records in 2026.
Challenges still remain. Liquidity issues and a very negative market sentiment continue to act as barriers, making it difficult for BCH to achieve a rapid breakthrough.
