How to Buy Bitcoin Gold in 5 Minutes

The main difference between Bitcoin and Bitcoin Gold lies in the two cryptocurrency’s mining algorithms. While Bitcoin has SHA-256, BTG uses the ASIC-resistant Equihash algorithm. Does it say anything to you? No? Then let us explain with a little background story. As Bitcoin has become more and more popular, a surging number of miners have joined the network to support the coin’s system while making profits in the meantime. Different companies have realized that BTC mining was quite profitable if they have outsourced their operations to a location where electricity is cheap. Moreover, as they have used a low-electricity location, they have made significant profits that they have re-invested to buy more mining rigs. Throughout multiple years, these companies have grown large and become mining giants. The organizations add up to a huge percent of the network’s hash rate. Individual miners only have a small share of the Bitcoin network’s hash power. And possessing a large percentage of the hash rate means power for the companies. If there’s a debate in the community over different upgrades (among other things), these organizations are the ones who are deciding which option to choose. Unfortunately, individual miners don’t have the power to decide in the case of a quarrel. Therefore, critics are saying that Bitcoin mining is rather centralized, which is not what the coin’s creator Satoshi Nakamoto has envisioned. And here comes Bitcoin Gold in the picture. The founders of the coin wanted to create a cryptocurrency where the mining is decentralized. Bitcoin Gold is using the Equihash algorithm, which is resistant to ASIC mining rigs. Instead of ASIC mining, BTG users are able to use their GPUs. Furthermore, Bitcoin Gold has a new difficulty adjustment with every block compared to Bitcoin’s difficulty adjustment update in about every second week. There’s also another difference when comparing Bitcoin vs Bitcoin Gold, and this is replay protection. Let us explain first what a replay attack is. Playback or replay attack is a network attack in which hackers repeat or delay valid data transmission maliciously. The replay attack can be carried out by either the originator or an external attacker who intercepts the data and re-transmits it. Obviously, replay protection is a security measure that prevents such an attack from happening. This security measure is critical during a cryptocurrency hard fork. Therefore, the creators of Bitcoin Gold has activated replay protection. On the other hand, the Bitcoin network is not protected against replay attacks.

ASIC stands for Application-specific integrated circuit. While this may do not say anything to you, ASIC is a powerful cryptocurrency mining hardware that is over a million times better at mining coins than an average desktop computer. At first glance, this could mean a great thing for digital currencies. However, ASIC mining rigs are really expensive. While individual users are able to buy one or a couple of ASICs, their mining operations won’t be very profitable unless they have (legal) access to low-cost electricity. Just compare this to large mining companies who are running thousands of ASICs in low-cost countries and warehouses. Individual miners are unable to compete with them. As it becomes more and more harder for the average user to mine Bitcoin - as the more expensive mining becomes, the fewer persons will be able actually to do it -, the mining network will become increasingly centralized. So, ASIC mining is related to Bitcoin Gold as the developers of the cryptocurrency implemented an algorithm that is resistant to ASIC chips. This algorithm is called Equihash. The motto of the coin is “Make Bitcoin Decentralized Again” (a modified version of Donald Trump’s election campaign slogan). Therefore, the developers have set a goal to create a network where everyone can use a simple computer to mine the cryptocurrency while making profits in the meantime. While this creates a more decentralized mining network for Bitcoin Gold, this was also the vision of Satoshi Nakamoto - one computer, one vote.

Mining Bitcoin Gold along with other cryptocurrencies are the best worth when the market is uptrending. However, if you have access to relatively cheap electricity, and you have a budget to spend on mining rigs, you can go for mining BTG even in a crypto market that just crashed. However, we can’t give you a precise answer on whether it is worth it for you to mine Bitcoin Gold as mining profitability matters on different factors. The first factor is the initial cost of your mining rig. Fortunately, as Bitcoin Gold is using the Equihash algorithm to make mining more decentralized, you won’t have to spend a fortune on your equipment. You only need one or a couple of high-performing GPUs. Secondly, you should be aware of the hash power as well as the performance of your GPU(s). And finally, costs like electricity should be taken into account as it will determine how much profits will you be able to take home at the end of the month (or year). As mentioned before, you should also be aware of the price of the cryptocurrency you are mining (Bitcoin Gold in the current case).

Security is a crucial factor when you are holding coins in a cryptocurrency wallet. Unfortunately, hackers are highly targeting the crypto space. They have one ultimate goal: to steal as much digital currency as possible from the users. But fear no more. If you set up a few security measures (like 2FA) and/or you choose a high-security wallet, you don’t have to worry about your coins being stolen by attackers. Now let’s see what type of wallets and the actual products are the most secure for storing Bitcoin Gold. Hardware wallets are considered as the most secure cryptocurrency wallets by experts. These solutions come with a physical device. This device is used every time to enter a PIN by the user when you are logging into your wallet and when you try to send an outgoing transaction. As no transactions can be sent from your wallet without you entering a PIN on the physical device, military-grade protection is created. Let’s see a case when a hacker tries to steal your funds from your hardware wallet. He has to first breach the software side of the wallet. However, that is not enough to transfer your funds to his wallet. The attacker has to acquire your PIN and your physical device (to enter the PIN). While this is not completely impossible, the hacker has to be a mastermind - one of the best in the world - to steal funds from your hardware wallet. And in case he or she is successful, it becomes a question whether it was worth for him or her as such attack requires really hard “work.” So, the most secure Bitcoin Gold wallet solutions are hardware wallets. And, fortunately, all of the big, trusted brands - including Ledger, Trezor, and KeepKey - are supporting BTG.

A part of the cryptocurrency community prefers not to provide any Know Your Customer (KYC) or Anti-Money Laundering (AML) documents to the service providers when they are purchasing coins on their services. However, most of the companies in the space have to comply with different regulations. Therefore, they are requesting KYC and/or AML documents in addition to other information from their customers. So, here comes the question: how can you buy Bitcoin Gold anonymously? Despite the strict regulations, there are ways to buy BTG without providing any documents to anybody. The first method is to use a cryptocurrency exchange - where BTG is supported - that has high account limits. Therefore, you don’t have to verify your account and submit KYC and AML documents in order to buy the coin. Two good examples of such services are Binance and Changelly. The other way is to buy Bitcoin Gold locally using a service (or a seller) that does not require the aforementioned documents from you. If you have an ATM nearby that supports BTG or you can connect with a local seller, you have a good chance to buy Bitcoin Gold anonymously.

While using a credit card to buy BTG serves as a convenient solution to purchase the coin, a part of the people prefer to use cash to buy the cryptocurrency. To buy Bitcoin Gold with cash, you need to either connect with a local seller or find a crypto ATM that supports BTG nearby your location. You can also ask a friend who owns the coin to sell you some for cash.