Bitcoin Gold (BTG) once again became a hot topic of discussion in the cryptocurrency community. This past week, several prominent bitcoin users investigated BTG and pointed out several flaws associated with it. These flaws, in turn, led to a lot of skepticism and criticism regarding the BTG fork. Many users also took to the BTG’s Slack channel where they’ve asked questions, and outright denounced BTG as “shady”. Besides the criticisms, several concerned users pointed out the alarming fact that there still is no infrastructure or exchange listing in place which shows signs of supporting the fork.
On particular user’s research revealed that the owner of the BTG website also owns several other cryptocurrency domains. The same user also found out that BTG does not yet have a completed algorithm nor any replay attack protection. In addition to these worrying aspects, especially in the light of the looming fork, there also hasn’t been any signs of significant development in regards to BTG’s code. This has led to many concerns bring raised within the bitcoin community.
During this week, news.Bitcoin.com received an official response to all the BTG criticism which acknowledged the criticism. In response, the BTG administrators stated that the people who voiced the critique simply failed to understand the decentralized aspect of bitcoin.
The statement methodically discussed each accusation. First, they responded to the lack of replay protection by stating that compared with the PoW change, replay protection is a simpler code change. However, they did acknowledge the importance of implementing replay protection before the split on the 25th of October and blamed the delayed implementation on the lack of developing volunteers. In addressing the unfinished Equihash implementation, the BTG team once again confirmed that the algorithm and code have not yet been merged.
The team stated that the previous fundraising idea did not comprehensively reflect the team's vision for BTG and that they were currently engaged in analyzing the pre-mine code.
The BTG emphasized that they were made up entirely out of volunteers. In addition, they stated that they still have not completely ruled out pre-mining possibilities. However, they added that if they do implement a pre-mining script, they will do so transparently and add a detailed financial plan which gives a clear outline on how these funds will be used.
An additional criticism concerns the fact that certain websites have claimed to be able to allow users to claim BTG before the split officially takes place. Several websites such as claimBTCGPU claimed to be able to allow users to pre-claim BTG. The website continues to give a detailed instruction which explains the process. Several users have claimed this website to be a scam. However, the BTG team themselves have not yet referred to this website or its legitimacy.
On particular user’s research revealed that the owner of the BTG website also owns several other cryptocurrency domains. The same user also found out that BTG does not yet have a completed algorithm nor any replay attack protection. In addition to these worrying aspects, especially in the light of the looming fork, there also hasn’t been any signs of significant development in regards to BTG’s code. This has led to many concerns bring raised within the bitcoin community.
During this week, news.Bitcoin.com received an official response to all the BTG criticism which acknowledged the criticism. In response, the BTG administrators stated that the people who voiced the critique simply failed to understand the decentralized aspect of bitcoin.
The statement methodically discussed each accusation. First, they responded to the lack of replay protection by stating that compared with the PoW change, replay protection is a simpler code change. However, they did acknowledge the importance of implementing replay protection before the split on the 25th of October and blamed the delayed implementation on the lack of developing volunteers. In addressing the unfinished Equihash implementation, the BTG team once again confirmed that the algorithm and code have not yet been merged.
The team stated that the previous fundraising idea did not comprehensively reflect the team's vision for BTG and that they were currently engaged in analyzing the pre-mine code.
The BTG emphasized that they were made up entirely out of volunteers. In addition, they stated that they still have not completely ruled out pre-mining possibilities. However, they added that if they do implement a pre-mining script, they will do so transparently and add a detailed financial plan which gives a clear outline on how these funds will be used.
An additional criticism concerns the fact that certain websites have claimed to be able to allow users to claim BTG before the split officially takes place. Several websites such as claimBTCGPU claimed to be able to allow users to pre-claim BTG. The website continues to give a detailed instruction which explains the process. Several users have claimed this website to be a scam. However, the BTG team themselves have not yet referred to this website or its legitimacy.