What’s the Deal with Bitcoin Gold

During the last couple of years, numerous debates have taken place on what the best decisions are to assure the prosperous continuation of the Bitcoin network. Similar to all discussions, there have been disagreements, and these have the potential of turning into hard forks on the network.

For those who do not know, a hard fork is basically when a portion of the network splits off and goes on to create an entirely new digital currency, separate from the original one. This has recently happened with Bitcoin, hence the creation of Bitcoin gold on the 25th of October.

So, what is Bitcoin Gold? Well, on the classic Bitcoin protocol, mining (the verification and processing of transactions) can be done with the help of powerful, yet expensive ASIC mining chips. Because of this aspect, mining can turn out to be quite expensive, and challenging for individuals. On the Bitcoin network, most processing power is held by actual mining companies which have enough capital to purchase enough ASIC miners to make mining profitable.

Bitcoin Gold, therefore, aims to change the mining protocols by making graphics processor-based mining a reality once again. Therefore, those who decide to switch to Bitcoin gold will be able to use their computer’s graphics processing units (GPUs) to verify transactions on the network, and hence be rewarded for their contributions. In return, this makes mining profitable for small-scale users all over again.

However, it also comes with a couple of considerable disadvantages, thus making Bitcoin gold more of a gamble. The network knows this all too well and has therefore decided on a price of roughly $100 per unit of Bitcoin Gold. With this in mind, the value is significantly lower when compared to that of bitcoin, which is currently trading at approximately $6,000 per unit.

Following the release of Bitcoin Gold, their website was severely DDoS’d through a series of attacks.

It is interesting to see how hard forks take place and what their evolution is on the market, after the network split. Bitcoin Cash, which broke off from the Bitcoin blockchain a while back, didn’t end up being successful either and has even contributed to a considerable increase in the price of classic bitcoin.

Rumors indicate that in a couple of months, the network will be subject to yet another hard fork, because of the Segregated Witnesses protocol changes which some developers are pushing onwards. While there are benefits associated with this protocol, there are also numerous disadvantages. One thing is clear though: as time goes on, bitcoin will face numerous challenges, yet most economic analysts and investors believe that it will manage to overcome these hard forks as well.

Based on everything that has been outlined so far, what do you personally think about the latest forks which took place on the network? How about the upcoming ones? Do you think these splits could somehow affect bitcoin gambling? Let us know your thoughts in the comment section below.