Bitcoin Gold is a community-led project to create an experimental hard fork of Bitcoin to a new proof-of-work algorithm. The purpose for doing this is to make Bitcoin mining decentralized again. Satoshi Nakamoto’s idealistic vision of “one CPU one vote” has been superseded by a reality where the manufacture and distribution of mining equipment has become dominated by a very small number of entities, some of whom have engaged in abusive practices against individual miners and the Bitcoin network as a whole. Bitcoin Gold will provide an opportunity for countless new people around the world to participate in the mining process with widely-available consumer hardware that is manufactured and distributed by reputable mainstream corporations. A more decentralized, democratic mining infrastructure is more resilient and more in line with Satoshi’s original vision. Perhaps, if the Bitcoin Gold experiment is judged by the community to be a success, it may one day help build consensus for a proof-of-work hard fork on Bitcoin itself.
