Bitcoin Gold: A User-Friendly Alternative to Bitcoin

Bitcoin Gold: A User-Friendly Alternative to Bitcoin

Bitcoin Gold (BTG) is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2017 as a hard fork of Bitcoin, the most popular and widely used digital currency. BTG’s main goal is to change the mining algorithm from SHA-256, which requires specialized hardware called ASICs, to Equihash, which can be mined by ordinary GPUs. This way, BTG hopes to restore the original vision of Bitcoin as a peer-to-peer electronic cash system that is open and democratic for everyone.

Coin introduction and features

Bitcoin Gold is based on the same codebase and blockchain as Bitcoin, but with some key differences. The most notable one is the switch to Equihash, a memory-hard proof-of-work algorithm that is resistant to ASIC mining. Equihash was originally designed for Zcash, another privacy-focused cryptocurrency, and it allows anyone with a graphics card to participate in the mining process and earn rewards. By doing so, BTG aims to prevent the centralization and monopolization of mining power by large corporations and pools, which can threaten the security and integrity of the network.

Another feature of Bitcoin Gold is the implementation of Segregated Witness (SegWit), a protocol upgrade that increases the block size limit and improves the scalability and efficiency of transactions. SegWit also enables the use of second-layer solutions, such as the Lightning Network, which can facilitate fast and cheap off-chain payments. BTG also supports replay protection, which prevents the duplication of transactions on both chains after the fork, and unique wallet addresses, which prevent confusion and errors when sending and receiving coins.

Market analysis and trends

Bitcoin Gold has a limited supply of 21 million coins, the same as Bitcoin. The current circulating supply is about 17.5 million BTG, and the block reward is 6.25 BTG per block, which halves every 210,000 blocks, or approximately every four years. The average block time is 10 minutes, and the difficulty adjustment is every block, using a modified version of the DigiShield algorithm.

According to CoinMarketCap, the current price of BTG as of March 11, 2024, is $28.81, with a market capitalization of $501.19 million and a 24-hour trading volume of $71.61 million. BTG ranks 135th among all cryptocurrencies by market cap, and it is traded on more than 75 exchanges, with the most active ones being Binance, HitBTC, and Gate.io. BTG can be paired with various fiat and crypto currencies, such as USD, EUR, KRW, BTC, and ETH.

The price of BTG has experienced significant volatility since its inception, reaching an all-time high of $719.67 on October 23, 2017, shortly after the fork, and an all-time low of $3.38 on November 23, 2020, during the crypto market crash. BTG has also been affected by several 51% attacks, which are attempts to manipulate the blockchain by controlling more than half of the hashing power. The most recent attack occurred on May 19, 2023, when an unknown miner managed to reorganize the chain and double-spend about $72,000 worth of BTG. The BTG team responded by alerting the exchanges and implementing rolling checkpoint finalization, a security measure that prevents deep chain reorganizations.

The trend of BTG in the past year has been generally positive, as the coin has recovered from the lows of 2020 and followed the bullish momentum of the overall crypto market. BTG has gained more than 66% since the beginning of 2024, reaching a yearly high of $40.12 on March 9, 2024. The main drivers of this growth include the increasing adoption and awareness of BTG as a user-friendly alternative to Bitcoin, the development and innovation of the BTG project and ecosystem, and the rising demand for decentralized and scarce assets amid the global economic uncertainty and inflation.

Project updates

The Bitcoin Gold project is constantly evolving and improving, with the aim of providing a more secure, scalable, and accessible cryptocurrency for the masses. Some of the recent updates and announcements from the BTG team and community are:

• BTG Core Wallet v0.17.3: This is the latest version of the official full node wallet, released on August 3, 2023. It introduces rolling checkpoint finalization, a feature that increases the safety of the BTG blockchain against 51% attacks by preventing reorganizations beyond a certain depth. It also includes bug fixes and performance improvements.
• Phala Network Partnership: This is a strategic partnership announced on March 27, 2023, between BTG and Phala Network, a privacy-preserving cloud computing platform based on Polkadot. The partnership aims to develop lightweight, low-cost, trustless bridges between BTG and other Bitcoin-based chains and the Polkadot ecosystem, leveraging Phala’s TEE-based confidential computing technology. BTG will be the first asset bridged to Polkadot through Phala, opening up new possibilities for cross-chain interoperability and innovation.
• BTG Roadmap 2021: This is a document published on April 27, 2023, that outlines the primary objectives and plans of the BTG project for 2021 and beyond. It shows some changes in direction, but also continuity on prior commitments. Some of the main goals include:
  • Bitcoin Gold Core v21: This is the next major update of the full node wallet, which will follow the upstream updates from Bitcoin and introduce new features such as schnorr signatures and taproot, which can enhance the privacy and efficiency of transactions and smart contracts.
  • Refreshed Explorer: This is a new blockchain explorer that will be deployed for improved stability, appearance, and usability. It will use either Blockbook or Bitcore v8, which are open-source software that can index and query the blockchain data.
  • Lightning Network Integration: This is an ongoing effort to integrate BTG with the Lightning Network, a second-layer solution that can enable fast and cheap off-chain payments. BTG has already implemented SegWit, which is a prerequisite for the Lightning Network, and is working on developing compatible software and hardware wallets, nodes, and channels.
  • DeFi and DApp Development: This is a new direction for the BTG project, which aims to explore and expand the opportunities for decentralized finance and applications on the BTG blockchain. BTG will leverage its compatibility with Bitcoin and its connection with Polkadot to create and support innovative solutions that can benefit the users and the ecosystem.

Analysis and recommendations for investments

Bitcoin Gold is a cryptocurrency that offers a unique value proposition in the crypto space. It combines the proven security and robustness of Bitcoin with the potential for experimentation and development of Equihash and Polkadot. It also strives to make mining more democratic and accessible, empowering individual miners and promoting wider participation in the network. BTG has a loyal and active community that supports the vision and mission of the project, and a dedicated and innovative team that works hard to deliver value and quality to the users and the ecosystem.

Based on our investment analysis of BTG, we can conclude that it is a promising and attractive asset for both short-term and long-term investors. In the short term, BTG can benefit from the positive sentiment and momentum of the crypto market, as well as from the increasing adoption and awareness of BTG as a user-friendly alternative to Bitcoin. BTG can also capitalize on the growing demand for decentralized and scarce assets, especially in times of economic turmoil and inflation. In the long term, BTG can leverage its compatibility with Bitcoin and its connection with Polkadot to create and support innovative solutions that can enhance the utility and value of BTG and the ecosystem. BTG can also enjoy the network effects and synergies that come from being part of a larger and more diverse crypto community.

Therefore, we recommend BTG to investors who are looking for a cryptocurrency that has the best of both worlds: the security and sturdiness of Bitcoin and the potential for innovation and development of Equihash and Polkadot. We believe that BTG has a bright future ahead, and that it can offer significant returns and benefits to its holders and supporters.