Bittrex has announced that it will be delisting Bitcoin Gold (BTG) from its platform. The US-based cryptocurrency exchange says the spate of hacks suffered by the Bitcoin fork is the reason for its removal from the platform’s list of tradable virtual currencies.
Reasons for the Bitcoin Gold Removal
Beginning from September 14, Bittrex will no longer BTG trading pairs on its platform. According to The Next Web, this decision is due to the fact BTG has suffered too many attacks on its blockchain. Bitcoin Gold was one of the blockchains hit with 51 percent attacks in 2018 as the security of smaller blockchains was severely tested.
Earlier in the year, BTG suffered a 51 percent attack which resulted in the theft of $18 million worth of Bitcoin Gold. Bittrex was one of the exchange platforms used in the double-spend attack by the hackers.
At the time, there was no word on how much of the double-spend occurred on Bittrex’s platform. However, reports indicate that the platform requested compensation to the tune of $255,000 worth of BTG. According to the Bitcoin Gold development team:
Bittrex informed us that they make this decision because the BTG team would not “take responsibility for our chain,” and that taking responsibility meant paying Bittrex 12,372 BTG to cover the loss they incurred. They later informed us they would cover part of the loss from their own BTG reserves and requested we pay the remaining ~6,000 BTG ($127,000), and that if we did not, we would be delisted.
Fall from Grace
The removal from the Bittrex platform is yet another blow to BTG’s credibility. Once upon a time, the Bitcoin fork had the fifth largest market capitalization. These days, BTG is languishing in the 30th position.
Perhaps even more damning is the response provided by the development in the wake of Bittrex’s compensation demand. In its defense, the team said:
The Bitcoin Gold team is not responsible for security policy within private entities like Bitrex [sic]; those who earn revenue running a private business must manage the related risks and are ultimately responsible for their own security.
What do you think about Bittrex delisting Bitcoin Gold from its cryptocurrency trading catalog? Do you think any of Bitcoin forks have been able to live up to expectation? Keep the conversation going in the comment section below.
Image courtesy of Bitcoingold.org