Bitcoin Gold Sets Sunday Date for Cryptocurrency Release
From Coindesk
Bitcoin gold is set to go live this weekend.Read more:In a new blog post, the developers behind the fork of the bitcoin blockchain said that they would release a formal software client for download at 7:00 PM UTC on Nov. 12. Originally set for a public launch on Nov. 1, the project is backed by LightningASIC, a seller of mining hardware based in Hong Kong, as well as a community of relatively unknown developers.
As reported by CoinDesk, the idea behind bitcoin gold is to keep most properties of the protocol, but restrict the use of specialized chips for mining, or the process by which new transactions are added to a blockchain (while also creating new tokens as a reward).
It's also the latest example of a "airdropped" cryptocurrency that will distribute new coins to anyone who owned bitcoin at the time of the split, or up until the date the ledger of transactions started to differ.
Yet in a move criticized by some observers, the team behind bitcoin gold has been mining blocks in insolation since the new network was formally created last month, with a certain amount of coins being set aside to support development.
In comments, the team behind the effort sought to send a signal of confidence to the market, perhaps owing to concerns circulating around the effort.
How rushed this coin was and the fact that they've missed their own deadlines already has me worried.
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I thought Bitcoin Gold used the equihash algorithm, which is GPU mineable. Why would an ASIC mining hardware company back the project?