The biggest surprise in all of cryptocurrency this weekend is how Bitcoin Gold is a top currency right now. With a market cap over $5.7bn, things look pretty solid for BTG. How this situation will evolve in the coming weeks, remains to be determined. The number of use cases for this altcoin is still pretty limited, and its value is purely speculative at this point.

There are three different Bitcoin forks in the cryptocurrency top 5. That is, assuming one ranks the list by market cap. Bitcoin Gold came pretty much out of the blue in this regard. Although the launch was rather botched, things eventually worked out quite alright. Thanks to the speculators, BTG now has a market cap of over $5.7bn. That is a significant amount, although maintaining this value will be quite difficult, to say the least.

Bitcoin Gold is Ranked Fifth

According to Coinmarketcap, there is 16.6m BTG in circulation. With a current valuation of $43 per coin, things add up to a large market cap. There are still some issues when it comes to claiming one’s BTG through a wallet or exchange, though. Not too many companies support this fork, for obvious reasons. That hasn’t affected the trading volume in any negative manner, though. Bittrex is still the largest trading platform, followed by Bitfinex and HitBTC.

No one can deny the value of Bitcoin Gold is only speculative right now. There are no use cases and spending the currency isn’t possible when it comes to buying goods. That is a matter of time, assuming retailers will show any legitimate interest in this altcoin. Right now, that seems unlikely, but weirder things have happened in cryptocurrency this year. Bitcoin Cash had some initial struggles in this regard as well, yet it is firing on all cylinders right now.

How all of this will play out for Bitcoin Gold, remains to be seen. There is a lot of market momentum, despite clear losses in USD and BTC value. More specifically, the USD value dropped by 5.5%, and the BTC value retraced by nearly 12%. It is to be expected there will be a lot of BTG volatility in the days and weeks to come. More forms of Bitcoin competing for traction is not a bad thing, though. At the same time, Bitcoin Gold is not necessarily a Bitcoin competitor in its current form.

Header image courtesy of Shutterstock