It is evident Bitcoin holders have received a lot of free coins throughout 2017. With all of the hard forks and airdrops taking place, things have certainly evolved in an interesting direction. What is rather surprising is how there is still very little interest in Bitcoin Gold. Fewer people have claimed their BTG balances than expected, mainly because it has proven rather difficult to do so. This goes to show that Bitcoin Cash may have the brighter future ahead.
Bitcoin Gold is in Less Demand Right Now
Everyone who has kept tabs on the Bitcoin Gold launch will have noticed that there have been plenty of issues when it comes to claiming one’s BTG balance. This currency was, like most other hard forks, issued to Bitcoin holders at a specific time. This means anyone who had a Bitcoin balance at the time of this hard fork should have an equal amount of Bitcoin Gold coins. That is, assuming one can obtain his or her BTG balance and withdraw it to a wallet he or she controls.
Ever since the launch of Bitcoin Gold, there have been few people actively looking to collect their coins, by the look of things. It is still somewhat difficult to do so, mind you, as there are only a few wallets supporting BTG at this point in time. Moreover, there are only a handful of exchanges which automatically credited these balances to user accounts. It is evident Bitcoin Gold simply isn’t of big interest to most companies, despite the currency having a value of US$250 at the time of writing.
According to Forks Network, 2.184 million coins have been moved on the Bitcoin Gold blockchain since its release over three weeks ago. There are less than one million outputs on the network, which is well below what one would expect at this point in time. It is evident Bitcoin Gold is struggling somewhat, and its value certainly reflects this lack of interest. With a 16.24% decline over the past week alone, things aren’t looking all that promising either.
Especially when we compare these numbers to that other Bitcoin hard fork which got a lot of attention, Bitcoin Gold looks like the third wheel. Bitcoin Cash is clearly of much greater interest to users all over the world. This isn’t surprising, as there was plenty of wallet and exchange support in place even before that fork happened. It was handled in a more professional manner than BTG, and the community responded in a positive manner.
For its part, Bitcoin Cash has had 6.595 million coins moved on the network since August 1st. Moreover, it has 4.891 million outputs split on the BCH side. There is a good reason why Bitcoin Cash is higher in market capitalization, has a bigger community, and simply is of greater interest to Bitcoin users all over the world. Although all airdrops should be treated equally, it is evident there is a clear difference between Bitcoin Cash and Bitcoin Gold.
How all of this will play out in the long run remains to be determined. It is evident Bitcoin Cash is still a very valuable altcoin which has a bright future ahead if its developers keep up. Bitcoin Gold, on the other hand, seems to have continually gotten the short end of the stick from day one. Bitcoin is still the dominant form of this currency, and it seems highly unlikely any of the future hard forks will disrupt this scene in a major way.
