On Earth Day, April 22, Ripple co-founder and executive chairman Chris Larsen urged blockchains to migrate from the legacy proof-of-work (PoW) consensus model.
Larsen admitted that at one time this algorithm was an innovative technology for confirming cryptocurrency transactions. However, now, in his opinion, this mechanism is morally outdated, in particular – in the light of current environmental problems. For example, Larsen sees it as a potent – and ever increasing – source of carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions.
The co-founder of Ripple fears that the increasing mass adoption of Bitcoin, a currency that uses the PoW algorithm, is pushing electricity consumption to unsupported levels. Fortunately, Larsen adds, there are other viable, less energy-consuming and greener mining models like proof-of-stake (PoS).
Viable alternatives
Of course, Larsen could not fail to cite his own brainchild – the Ripple project as an example. As he noted, Ledger has been using the federated consensus algorithm to confirm XRP transactions for almost nine years. Larsen emphasized that 62 million registries were closed during this time without any downtime, and this model is characterized by a carbon neutral level.
He also recalled Binance Coin (BNB), which operates using the PoS version and managed to achieve a market capitalization of about $ 80 billion. Larsen noted that the Ethereum blockchain has already begun the process of migrating to the PoS algorithm. Overall, he added, non-PoW coins account for about 43% of the total market cap.
“It is clear in which direction the trend is moving,” he summed up.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin alone, according to Larsen, consumes an average of 132 kWh annually and emits about 63 million CO2 into the environment. He considers these levels to be unsupported and extremely high. At the same time, Bitcoin is the undisputed leader among other coins in the PoW segment – it accounts for 98% of the total hash rate of coins.
“Now more and more retail and institutional investors are investing in bitcoin. In such conditions, the application of the PoW algorithm will lead society to levels that are unacceptable and unacceptable against the background of the struggle that the world is now waging to prevent a climate catastrophe. ”
In this regard, Larsen also suggested that Bitcoin investing companies may begin to feel pressure to move away from PoW-based coins, and this could become an obstacle to further mass adoption of cryptocurrencies.
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