Short answers, pulled from the story.
Bitcoin Gold launched on the 24th of October 2017. This event marked the creation of a new cryptocurrency that split from the existing bitcoin network to change mining mechanics.
The developers aimed to decentralize the process by making it accessible to everyday users with standard PC components. They intended for people to earn rewards from home computers rather than purchasing expensive Application-Specific Integrated Circuits.
An unknown actor manipulated the transaction ledger and spent digital coins multiple times during this breach. Approximately 388,000 BTG tokens were stolen from various exchanges, holding a value of roughly US$18 million at the time of the theft.
A vulnerability exposed in that event led to an emergency software update released in July 2020. That update was version 0.17.2 and it addressed a long attack chain that had been building for several days prior to stop ongoing exploitation attempts.