Bitcoin Gold (BTG) - a new Bitcoin or a "traitor"?

The emergence of this cryptocurrency was undoubtedly accompanied by the greatest emotions in the short history of the market. Bitcoin Gold was supposed to be new, truly decentralized Bitcoin, but part of the community accuses its creators that their main goal was to get rich quick. What was it really like and what is the future of this cryptocurrency?

We continue our cycle with the most recognizable cryptocurrencies in the world. Today is the turn of Bitcoin Gold, or one of "Fugitives" from the Bitcoin chain. Bitcoin Gold (BTG) is a cryptocurrency that is based on the source code Bitcoin. There is also a so-called Bitcoin hard fork, which is the result of a network division.

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Critics: Bitcoin Gold is not Bitcoin

Investors who object hard fork (another one is the creation of Bitcoin Cash), they argue that such action causes more harm than good. They note that it is in fact a separate cryptocurrency that uses a well-known brand to increase its popularity. The biggest accusation, however, is the manner in which the division took place, which was met with massive criticism from the community. The creators of Bitcoin Gold wanted to "liberate" the cryptocurrency from the big and wealthy companies that mine Bitcoin, allowing the new algorithm to be available also to people operating on ordinary devices with graphics cards. It was supposed to allow for profits also for smaller investors, especially since the number of units was predetermined at 21 million, which, given the billions of billions of other cryptocurrencies, could suggest the possibility of an effective multiplication of capital. The problem is that its creators earned the most ... But one by one.

800 blocks for selected ones

On 24.10.2017, the Bitcoin Gold network was separated from "Classic" Bitcoin. The division was simple, because BTG was converted in a 1: 1 ratio for all BTC holders. Cryptocurrency holders, however, were most upset by the fact that the developers working on the separation dug 800 blocks immediately after separating the network, which translated into 100. units that were worth more than $ 500 each at the beginning of their listing. It is easy to calculate that the "separatists" account received coins worth 50 million USD.

Classic miners digging new units can only dream of such a result. Although it can be done not only by the owners of dedicated equipment (ASIC resistance), but also by people behind classic computers, the average block time of 10 minutes translates into a reward of 12,5 BTG, and after halving in April 2020 it will drop to 6,25 BTG.

The biggest attack in the history of cryptocurrencies

Bitcoin Gold also went down in the history of the market by participating in the largest hacker attack, which took place on May 18.05.2018, 18,5. The hackers took advantage of the low computing power of all miners on the Bitcoin Gold network. In a nutshell - they doubled virtually all units that were then available on the market on the world's largest cryptocurrency exchanges. As a result of this action, the stock exchanges suffered losses valued at over USD XNUMX million.

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) Quotes

Despite considerable controversy (and maybe also thanks to them) Bitcoin Gold is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies. As at December 30.12.2019, 43, it can be traded on 5,51 cryptocurrency exchanges. Currently, you need to pay USD 17,5 for one BTG unit. With 96,5 million traded units, this gives a capitalization in excess of USD 23.10.2017 million. And so it does not match the record set on October 539,72, XNUMX, when the price reached XNUMX USD per unit.