Key Takeaways
- Bitcoin Diamond had the idea of eliminating specialized mining equipment participation in the support of the Bitcoin network.
- At the time of the fork, it was a temporary upgrade to the then “original” Bitcoin due to easier consensus among the founding team and first users.
- Bitcoin Diamond had a larger supply and shorter transaction speed, and it was focused on being the token of choice for small businesses and microtransactions.
Bitcoin Diamond (BCD) is a fork of the original Bitcoin (BTC) chain and it was designed with the world’s unbanked and financially underserved in mind. Touted as a better version of Satoshi’s vision to keep BTC decentralized, the hard fork occurred at block height 495866 on November 24, 2017.
BCD implemented changes such as using the X13 proof of stake algorithm to deter ASIC usage while encouraging GPU mining. The same algorithm was expected to prevent attacks on the network and had the following upgrades the BTC either did not have at the time or was in the process of implementing:
- SegWit,
- Anti-replay protection,
- A larger block height of 8 MB,
- Wallet enhancements/ partnerships
All of these enhancements were to allow for better scaling, prevent the use of specialized equipment in mining, and enable much faster transaction speeds. A transaction speed of 100 transactions per second was mentioned in the original whitepaper.
The total supply of BCD was originally set at 210M coins; this was to address the issue with the overpriced BTC. BCD aimed at having daily usage with a focus on small businesses and microtransactions, which are key to bringing in and keeping the bulk of daily users.
The price action of BCD allowed it to hit a high of $76 in 2018 and the total market cap briefly passed the 1 billion dollar mark in 2021. Currently, BCD is priced at $0.09 with a total market cap of 18-20 million USD.
According to CoinMarketCap, the following exchanges still host BCD which can be traded against BTC and USDT:
- Gate.io
- ProBit Global
- YoBit
- HitBTC
On the BCD official website, the crypto swap app changelly.com is also an additional place where BCD can be purchased.
Gate.io and ProBit Global both have the standard sign-up, KYC, and AML procedure where a user can register for an account, verify their identity then trade. For YoBit, HitBTC, and changelly.com, having a Metamask account with crypto already loaded will allow a user to swap assets.
Conclusion
The Bitcoin Diamond token has undergone major changes in the team and supporting network since hitting a billion-dollar valuation in 2021. Additionally, since its launch, the “original” Bitcoin has gained consensus around many issues and has benefited from an upgraded network. Careful consideration must be made around any digital asset purchase, buy with a plan understanding that any coin or token can either go to zero or multiply based on the open market perception.
