Early in 2017, a new Bitcoin was created. Bitcoin Gold (BTG) was a new altcoin that came in with the same abilities as Bitcoin. The difference was in how the algorithm worked; it was different than Bitcoin. But a significant note is that it's easy to mine with Bitcoin Gold using simple mining equipment from your house, like GPUs.
Why Bitcoin Gold Vs. Bitcoin?
Anyone who owns any Bitcoins has the potential to get Bitcoin Gold. They can easily get the same amount of BTG as they have in Bitcoins. The exchange is on a one to one basis. And if for any reason you had Bitcoins on an exchange where Bitcoin Gold is supported, you might not even have to do anything. There’s a good chance that the correct amount of BTG will automatically be exchanged for you.
In case you don't know how to claim your BTG, there are several guides online. Make sure you don't continue through the steps if you feel lost or aren't sure what to do while going through the guides. Get advice, as there is very real potential for losing your cryptocurrency. The risk just isn't worth it if you're unsure and at risk of losing a lot of currency.
As for the differences, Bitcoin Gold is similar to Bitcoin. They've got the same processing times for transactions, around ten minutes or so. And they take about ten minutes to confirm after the coins have been transferred. They both also have 21 million in total coins, and there will never be more than 21 million BTG on the market. There are, however, several differences that we will talk about now.
BTG uses an entirely new algorithm for mining purposes. Bitcoin uses the SHA-256 algorithm for mining new blocks as well as creating new transactions. Bitcoin instead uses Equihash, but both use the proof of work system. They need miners to solve the challenging mathematical and cryptographic problems for mining a block. Bitcoin miners have a very different advantage when they use the expensive ASIC miners, however for BTG they don't get any advantages.
Bitcoin Gold uses common mining equipment that most people can afford and run. They have created the platform to be an equal opportunity system for mining. And it’s important to mention that they also have kept it inline with the goals of Bitcoin’s inventor Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision for cryptocurrency.
There has already been a significant update to the BTG ecosystem. It's called replay protection. It's designed to solve the main problem with Bitcoin forks: transactions replaying. Replays happen because the original blockchain and branched blockchains have the same history. The result is that any malicious users can replicate a trade. They can do it from one blockchain to the other, making twice the cryptocurrency. BTG has protection that ensures this can't happen. They achieved this by creating one blockchain's transaction utterly different than others.
What Makes Bitcoin Gold Unique Vs. Other Cryptocurrencies?
Bitcoin gold is one of the only free open-sourced cryptocurrency projects on the market right now. It's been developed by a Bitcoin enthusiast. BTG is one of the hard forks that came from Bitcoin's blockchain. It's a new form of Bitcoin that has the same transaction history as that of BTC, before the fork. It also exists in direct alignment with Bitcoins blockchain post fork days. It's a new currency entirely, however, and has a max supply of 21 million BTG.
Live BTG/USD Price Chart
Best Bitcoin Gold Trading Strategies
Bitcoin Gold trading strategies are primarily theoretical. BTG is exceptionally new, but if it starts to take off and gains some momentum a lot can happen. The price could rise, and if one thing is for sure, past performance of any cryptocurrency is not indicative of what the future holds. However, the more people who join Bitcoin Gold's network could lead to an increase in the value of BTG. If that happens, then the value of your BTG wallet will naturally increase as well.
The prices of cryptocurrencies are naturally volatile and risky. Bitcoin Gold has had its share of spikes, and a lot of people have a made a lot of money with it. There's still a lot of time to see exactly what happens with BTG; the price has shot up only to fall back down. But it's still over USD$125 as of November 2017, which is a decent price.