On October 24, 2017, a hard fork happened on Bitcoin’s blockchain, and as a result, Bitcoin Gold was born.
A hard fork occurs when the rules for a given cryptocurrency are changed, but a significant portion of its users don’t agree with them. In other words, some users stick to the old rules while others agree to play by the new ones. When that happens, a new coin is created from the original cryptocurrency.
In this case, Bitcoin Gold (BTG) was forked from Bitcoin because several developers wanted to change rules that, in their opinion, would allow for the mining process – that is, the process of creating Bitcoins – to be more decentralized. Indeed, in the very beginning of Bitcoin, anyone could mine the cryptocurrency off their laptop, but this era is long gone, and these days, mining is reserved to people with deep pockets. Bitcoin Gold hoped to fix that.
Unfortunately, things did not turn out so well for Bitcoin Gold and many people are now looking to sell their coins. Many tutorials have been written in the past where it is recommended to claim your BTG with a wallet software called ElectrumG. Back then, it was a good option, but today, that is not the case anymore. If you try to use ElectrumG, it may take forever to claim your BTG – if you are able to do it at all!
As of 2025, I recommend that you use Exodus instead. It supports many cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin Gold. It is available on Windows, Mac, Linux, Android and iPhone. However, if you are looking to sell your BTG, you should not waste time, as more and more wallets and exchanges are delisting this coin. You can download Exodus by clicking on this link.