In the beginning of the cryptocurrency universe, there was Bitcoin, which was created in August of 2009. At the time, many proponents saw it as an eventual competitor to the existing regime of worldwide fiat currencies. Hundreds of other cryptocurrencies have evolved since then.
But then there was “Bitcoin Cash,” a so-called hard fork, or split, of the original digital currency that took place on August 1st. Now the crypto-crowd is waiting for “Bitcoin Gold,” another fork of the Bitcoin blockchain slated to occur on October 25th. “At the predetermined block height, Bitcoin Gold miners will begin creating blocks with a new proof-of-work algorithm, and this will cause a bifurcation of the Bitcoin blockchain,” its sponsors said. “The original Bitcoin blockchain will continue on unaltered, but a new branch of the blockchain will split off from the original chain.”
“The new branch is a distinct blockchain with the same transaction history as Bitcoin up until the fork, but then diverges from it,” they added. This process will produce a new cryptocurrency.
So what is the purpose of Bitcoin Gold? To make Bitcoin mining decentralized again, its sponsors say. “Satoshi Nakamoto’s idealistic vision of ‘one CPU one vote’ has been superseded by a reality where the manufacture and distribution of mining equipment has become dominated by a very small number of entities, some of which have engaged in abusive practices against individual miners and the Bitcoin network as a whole,” they say on their website.
“By changing Bitcoin’s proof-of-work algorithm from SHA256 to Equihash, all of the specialized SHA256 mining equipment will be obsolete for mining the Bitcoin Gold blockchain,” the sponsors continue. “Thus, Bitcoin Gold will provide an opportunity for countless new people around the world to participate in the mining process with widely available consumer hardware that is manufactured and distributed by reputable mainstream corporations.” Stay tuned.