Fork the Fork: Bitcoin Gold Set to Make Yet Another Hard Fork

Bitcoin Gold, already a fork of Bitcoin, has announced an upcoming hard fork of its network. With this upgrade, the development team is looking to address two aspects that are making the network vulnerable - the threat of ASIC miners flooding the network and the possibility of future 51 percent attacks.

In the official announcement released on June 4, the team noted: “We’re doing this for two reasons: we need to address the threat of ASIC miners coming into the Equihash mining space, and we need to take steps to improve the security of our Blockchain Blockchain Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Blockchain comprises a digital network of blocks with a comprehensive ledger of transactions made in a cryptocurrency such as Bitcoin or other altcoins.One of the signature features of blockchain is that it is maintained across more than one computer. The ledger can be public or private (permissioned). In this sense, blockchain is immune to the manipulation of data, making it not only open but verifiable. Because a blockchain is stored across a network of computers, it is very difficult to tamp Read this Term in light of the recent 51% / Double Spend attacks.”

Bitcoin Cash was created in October 2017 by forking Bitcoin’s blockchain. To keep the existing ASIC miners of Bitcoin at a distance, the new coin uses the Equihash Proof-of-Work algorithm, an alteration to Bitcoin’s hash algorithm. Although it has kept ASIC miners away until now, Bitmain’s introduction of a new mining device - the Antminer Z9 - opened the gates of Bitcoin Gold to ASIC miners.

In the new upgrade, the team is changing the existing Equihash algorithm with the new Equihash-BTG. This will increase the memory required by ASIC miners to perform mining activity and thus will make their mining business unprofitable.

Vulnerable network

Another major issue Bitcoin Gold developers are trying to fix is the vulnerability of the network to 51 percent attacks. The coin shares its algorithm with many Cryptocurrencies Cryptocurrencies By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw By using cryptography, virtual currencies, known as cryptocurrencies, are nearly counterfeit-proof digital currencies that are built on blockchain technology. Comprised of decentralized networks, blockchain technology is not overseen by a central authority.Therefore, cryptocurrencies function in a decentralized nature which theoretically makes them immune to government interference. The term, cryptocurrency derives from the origin of the encryption techniques that are employed to secure the netw Read this Term, and thus hash rates generated from a collective pool can easily exploit the network.

Moreover, Bitcoin Gold’s network was already compromised using a 51 percent attack last month which resulted in the theft of $18 million worth of BTG tokens.

The team is claiming that the introduction of the new algorithm will drastically reduce the required hash power which will make it very difficult to take similar control over the network.

According to the announcement, the development team has already started the process. However, the exact date of the migration is not revealed yet as it will take the involvement of all the stakeholders including wallets, exchanges, and mining pools.