Mining Bitcoin Gold? What is it?
Bitcoin Gold or BTG is a fork of the popular cryptocurrency, Bitcoin. Bitcoin Gold was ‘forked’ from Bitcoin on October 24th, 2017 with the stated purpose of its founders to “make Bitcoin decentralized again”. As of November 12th, 2017 at 19:00 UTC, Bitcoin Gold can be mined using off the shelf computer graphics cards (GPU’s). These GPU mining rigs can be built and deployed by anyone (full build guide link). Bitcoin Gold doesn’t require custom Bitcoin mining computer chips known as ASIC’s. In theory, this will make the Bitcoin Gold network more de-centralized and secure from potential attacks by rogue miners. Only time will tell if this pays off for the creators of Bitcoin Gold. In the meantime, anyone who owns one or more GPU mining rigs can mine Bitcoin Gold for fun and profit.
Bitcoin Gold Mining vs Legacy Bitcoin Mining
Bitcoin mining uses the SHA256 algorithm for which ASIC’s have been built to mine as efficiently as possible, whereas, Bitcoin Gold uses the Equihash algorithm used by another popular privacy-focused cryptocurrency, Zcash. This algorithm is ASIC-resistant and is designed to make the development of ASIC’s for mining, virtually impossible.
Best GPU to Mine Bitcoin Gold
Because Bitcoin Gold uses the Equihash algorithm, Nvidia GPU’s have an edge over their AMD counterparts. I use and recommend the Nvidia GTX 1070 GPU. My favorite model of this GPU is the Gigabyte GeForce GTX 1070 Windforce OC (model # GV-N1070WF2OC-8GD). You can find more NVIDIA GPU specifications as well as other GPU recommendations here.
With all this background information covered, I’ve listed below the steps you’ll need to follow in order to mine Bitcoin Gold on your mining rig(s).
How to Mine Bitcoin Gold (BTG) with a GPU
- BITCOIN GOLD MINING SOFTWARE – Download and install the EWBF CUDA Equihash Miner software (for Nvidia GPU’s) or Claymore’s Equihash Miner software (for AMD GPU’s)
- BITCOIN GOLD MINING POOL – Pick from the following list of Bitcoin Gold mining pools to point your rig at:
– Miner Gate
– BTG Mine
– Pool Gold
– Server Power
– Nibiru
– Mining Speed
– MinerTopia - Exchanges that Support Bitcoin Gold:
– Binance
– Bitfinex
– CEX.io
– YoBit
– HitBTC
Keep in mind, this guide to mining Bitcoin Gold is new and will be updated as more information about the Bitcoin Gold fork becomes available.
Happy Mining!
Sidenote: If mining isn’t your thing, and you are just interested in purchasing some cryptocurrency as part of your investment portfolio, I personally use and recommend FTX Global Crypto Exchange (Use FTX US if a US resident)
To mine BTG with a multi-gpu setup, would you still recommend going with the 1070 over the 1080 TI? Looking at some estimates, the 1080TI is benching 3.6 Sol/s/Watt, with the 1070 at 3.58 Sol/s/Watt, transferring the decision factor to cost. It looks like most 1070s are over $420, with 1080 Tis coming in between $750-$800.
The price point for the 1080Ti is high enough that it doesn’t warrant an upgrade from the 1070 for Bitcoin Gold mining, but your mileage may vary.
Hi,
Thanks for these getting started guides. Is this hardware investment still worth over SAAS mining like SierraHash, Genesis, etc.? Are your really mining for ~$1000 a month? If Bitcoin Gold mining becomes too expensive, can we switch to another crypto easily to reuse the bought hardware?
Thanks.
The advantage here is, no third-party risk. You own and control the hardware. Yes, you can mine any other GPU-mineable crypto-currency with this hardware if Bitcoin Gold mining becomes too expensive.
Hi Josh. Very new to cryptocurrency but am keen to investigate mining. I have noted all your recommendations for the hardware required to build a rig, but am not so confident in my ability to do so. Is there a PC or gaming laptop that you know of that would have the capacity to mine? thanks a bunch!
If you want to purchase mining hardware that is plug and play, I recommend the Bitcoin and Litecoin Mining ASIC’s. I review the best ones on the market at those 2 links.
Hi Josh, Thanks for this posting.
One question. You Prefer the GTX 1070, is there a reason that you don´t want 1080 ?
Where is the differenz?
The 1080 costs more and uses more power, so I prefer the 1070.
Going to order a rig next week, exactly the one you specified on your 6 gpu guide! I was wondering what the profitability of that specific rig would be approx per month/week/etc, and do you think it will be more profitable to mine BTG gold over ethereum? Thanks in advance and thanks for the great guides.
Profitability varies, but this year has ranged between $300-1500/mo. With Bitcoin Gold mining, I’d recommend mining and holding. Then sell when the price gets pumped inevitably. Bitcoin Cash got dumped initially, but was pumped several times over the last few months to $1k+