👑 Bitcoin (BTC) — The Origin

🗓 Launch Year: 2009

👨‍💻 Creator: Satoshi Nakamoto

🧩 Purpose: Peer-to-peer digital cash, decentralized store of value

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (SHA-256)

💰 Max Supply: 21,000,000 BTC

🌐 Relation: The parent of the family, all others trace back to its code or chain.

---

🍞 Bitcoin Cash (BCH) — The First Big Split

🗓 Launch Year: 2017 (fork from BTC at block 478,558)

📦 Purpose: Faster, cheaper transactions via bigger blocks (8 MB → now 32 MB)

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (SHA-256)

💰 Max Supply: 21,000,000 BCH

🌐 Relation: Direct child of Bitcoin.

---

📜 Bitcoin SV (BSV) — The “Uncapped Block” Child

🗓 Launch Year: 2018 (fork from BCH)

📦 Purpose: Massive on-chain scaling, aiming for enterprise-level apps

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (SHA-256)

💰 Max Supply: 21,000,000 BSV

🌐 Relation: Grandchild of BTC through BCH.

---

💠 eCash (XEC) — The Tech-Upgrade Grandchild

🗓 Launch Year: 2021 (rebrand of Bitcoin Cash ABC)

📦 Purpose: Small payments, staking rewards, Avalanche protocol for fast finality

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (SHA-256) + Avalanche overlay

💰 Max Supply: 21,000,000,000,000 XEC (trillion units, to make prices smaller)

🌐 Relation: Grandchild of BTC through BCH → BCH ABC.

---

Litecoin (LTC) — The Speedy Cousin

🗓 Launch Year: 2011 (code fork of BTC)

📦 Purpose: Faster block times (2.5 mins), cheaper transactions

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (Scrypt)

💰 Max Supply: 84,000,000 LTC

🌐 Relation: Cousin — shares DNA but not blockchain history.

---

🐕 Dogecoin (DOGE) — The Meme Nephew

🗓 Launch Year: 2013 (fork of Litecoin’s code)

📦 Purpose: Fun, tipping, community currency

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (Scrypt) — merged mining with Litecoin

💰 Max Supply: Infinite (5 billion DOGE added per year)

🌐 Relation: Nephew through Litecoin.

---

🕵️ Zcash (ZEC) — The Privacy Cousin

🗓 Launch Year: 2016 (code fork of BTC)

📦 Purpose: Optional private transactions using zk-SNARK zero-knowledge proofs

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (Equihash)

💰 Max Supply: 21,000,000 ZEC

🌐 Relation: Cousin — shares code but adds privacy layer.

---

🔤 Namecoin (NMC) — The Domain Name Cousin

🗓 Launch Year: 2011 (first fork of BTC code)

📦 Purpose: Decentralized DNS and identity system

⚙ Consensus: Proof-of-Work (SHA-256)

💰 Max Supply: 21,000,000 NMC

🌐 Relation: Early cousin — shares same tech DNA as BTC.

---

📜 Summary Theory

BTC is the parent.

BCH and BSV are direct descendants (full bloodline).

XEC is a grandchild with modern features like Avalanche staking.

LTC, ZEC, NMC are cousins (same DNA, new chains).

DOGE is Litecoin’s child, making it BTC’s nephew.

---