Bitcoin…
And now Bitcoin Gold…
That’s right. Starting October 25th, there could be another Bitcoin roaming the crypto streets.
But before you get excited, let’s take a moment and look at what Bitcoin Gold (BTG) is.
Though it’s unlikely that Bitcoin Gold will create direct competition for Bitcoin, many Bitcoin users are still concerned that it could induce mayhem in an already confusing Bitcoin community. Some even consider the fork, which was announced in July, an attempt to troll the Bitcoin community after the acceptance of Segwit2x.
What is Bitcoin Gold?
I think Coindesk pretty much summed it up when they called Bitcoin Gold a “rebellion of sorts.”
The digital token will be launched in a very similar manner as Bitcoin Cash was in August. The goal is not to threaten Bitcoin. If anything, Bitcoin Gold poses more of a threat to recently launched Bitcoin Cash, offering an improved protocol that could be complementary to Bitcoin.
The project is led by Jack Liao, CEO of Hong Kong mining firm LightningASIC.
Currently, the token is slated to launch on October 25th. The cryptocurrency should be available to other exchanges on November 1st.
So what is different about BTG?
Well, Bitcoin Gold aims to take some of the mining power out of the hands of governments and massive corporations and return it to independent miners.
It will do this by replacing the Bitcoin mining algorithm with one that will enable it to be mined with graphics cards. This mining algorithm is is called Equihash, and is resistant to ASIC chips.
This has raised some eyebrows in the digital currency community. While returning power to miners would certainly help with decentralization, there are many who question whether such an approach will actually do anything.
Is Bitcoin Gold Good or Bad?
On this, both Bitcoin users and miners have mixed opinions.
As I mentioned above, many Bitcoin users consider Bitcoin Gold an unnecessary token and a distraction to an already split and confused Bitcoin network.
When Bitcoin Cash came onto the market, it collected a very small amount of support from the Bitcoin community. At the time of writing, Bitcoin Cash is worth 8% of the value of Bitcoin.
Bitcoin Gold would presumably have even less support and would just further divide the community.
Others are worried about the players initiating the hard fork. LightningASIC, the mining company run by the new founder of Bitcoin Gold, does provide the tools miners will need to mine the fork. This conflict of interest could undermine the authenticity of the token, positioning it to be a token created out of corporate greed.
We will follow this piece up with additional information on Bitcoin Gold closer to the October 25th launch. For now, interested parties can mark their calendars and settle in for a 20 day wait.
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