Review on Bitcoin Gold by Othere Obtentus
Decentralizing Bitcoin
Bitcoin Gold was a Bitcoin hard fork created on October 24, 2017. Identical to Bitcoin in nearly every way, but the mining algorithm. The explanation for this fork was that the team presented it as "re-decentralizing bitcoin." While this could seem like a needless explanation, the BTG community is very serious regarding ASIC-based mining, the Proof-of-Work system that BTC has. Over this, the BTG team developed "Asic-free mining". The concept around BTG is to keep the ASIC miners from getting too much control over the network.
Since Bitcoin is currently getting mined by ASICs, only people who buy these equipments can mine on the Bitcoin network. This will make mining increasingly concentrated and more difficult to access. Using the Equihash ASIC-resistant algorithm, BTG can not be mined using ASICs.
Pros
- ASIC free mining
- Designed for a uniformly decentralized network
- Easily minable with modest setup
- Stable and secure
- Actively traded
Cons
- Can never overtake its predecessor
- Controversies regarding its origin
