What is Bitcoin Gold?

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) is an open-source cryptocurrency and experimental hard fork of Bitcoin. It is a decentralised digital currency that may be transmitted from user to user on the peer-to-peer (P2P) Bitcoin Gold network without the need for a central bank or intermediary. It enhances and extends the crypto space with a blockchain closely compatible with Bitcoin but without using resources like Bitcoin hashpower.

BTG is a cryptocurrency with Bitcoin fundamentals, mined on common Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) so that anyone can mine. GPU mining rewards go to individuals worldwide. There are currently 17.5 million BTG in circulation.

A brief history of Bitcoin Gold

Bitcoin Gold was hard forked from the Bitcoin blockchain on 24 October 2017 with the intention to reinstate a more decentralised, democratic mining environment to counter escalating worries about Bitcoin mining centralisation and potential network abuse. Its intention is not to overtake Bitcoin; rather, it is to draw attention to and test potential methods for allowing retail investors to participate in mining.

Controversy hit Bitcoin Gold when developers used what is called a ‘post-mine’ of approximately 8,000 blocks, retroactively mining 100,000 coins after the fork already took place. These were set aside to grow and maintain the broader Bitcoin Gold network, with around 5% of those 100,000 coins for each of the six primary team members as a bonus. The remaining 95,000 coins were set aside to support the growth of the Bitcoin Gold community ecosystem.

How Bitcoin Gold works

One of the primary goals of Bitcoin Gold has been to change the algorithm by which the cryptocurrency itself is mined, meaning that the mining process cannot be run faster on specialised equipment than it can on standard computer systems.

Bitcoin Gold imposes new consensus rules of BTC block heights, which were implemented in block 491407. Beginning with this block, Bitcoin Gold miners constructed a new branch of the Bitcoin blockchain. This new branch is a cryptocurrency with the same transaction history and ownership distribution as Bitcoin at the fork block; if you possess BTC, you will automatically acquire an equivalent amount of BTG.

In order to counteract the concentration of power in the mining sector, Bitcoin Gold uses a new Proof of Work (PoW) algorithm called Equihash, which is a memory-hard algorithm performed by GPUs — a sort of standard computer and smartphone hardware manufactured by mainstream companies and widely accessible throughout the globe. Bitcoin Gold allows for a new class of entrepreneurs and investors to get engaged and rewarded in mining.

What is Bitcoin Gold used for?

Bitcoin Gold is utilised for a variety of applications, including smart contracts, open-source computing technology bridges, and payments.

BTG is a fungible digital currency, which means it is identical, replaceable, and convertible. It uses a consensus algorithm, and is decentralised and community-driven. Because of its enhanced design, BTG allows for faster transactions. While Bitcoin is expected to create roughly five transactions per second (tps), Bitcoin Gold produces up to 27 tps. It provides complete transaction anonymity, shielding the wallet addresses of network senders and receivers.