The month of October has been a reprieve from the chaos that was September for Bitcoin. The cryptocurrency has exploded reaching the 6 thousand dollar mark. But then it fell slightly. Some may speculate the reason behind the 4.5% price drop is due to the rumored “bubble”, but in reality it is due to a second fork in the blockchain, Bitcoin Gold.
A Second Fork
This new offshoot of the dominant cryptocurrency Bitcoin was just launched earlier this morning. The most important thing to note is how both forks of Bitcoin work within the Bitcoin blockchain. Bitcoin Gold and Bitcoin Cash both hold the original chain into account at the moment of the split occurs and as a log for all transactions. This is what causes the split in the chain and allows for them to utilize the name Bitcoin.
Sadly for the developers of Bitcoin Gold the cryptocurrency had a rough start. In the early hours of October 24th bitcoin gold had opened its doors to the world. But shortly thereafter the network was hit with a DDoS attack crashed the cloud site. In response the developer team banned all the IP addresses involved.
Bitcoin Gold
The newest iteration of bitcoin seeks to decentralize the cryptocurrency again. The developers did not agree with how bitcoin power was distributed and contained within the larger mining firms and sought to change that. Supporters of this also believe that Bitcoin Gold will offer a more egalitarian way of sending digital payments around the world while also making it easier to access.
This new cryptocurrency is backed by 20 exchanges. This is good news for those who support the change since for every 1 bitcoin a user has on that exchange they also have one Bitcoin Gold. The drawback however is in the value.
Split Chain
The community has different view on the overall idea of splits. Some view them as a positive overall, others as a negative. On one hand we have the growth of one currency developing over time, based around unity. This keeps everyone together and promotes the singular currency. Yet on the other hand we have multiple currencies all stemming from one concurrent idea. This broadens the horizon for people to find their way into the community. Either way, forks happen, and have happened. Maybe the issue could have been resolved. But one way or another SegWit2x is coming and could be the next split for Bitcoin as a whole.
