Author: Eric Voskuil 2021-03-05 20:53:02
Published on: 2021-03-05T20:53:02+00:00
In a recent conversation on the Bitcoin-dev mailing list, Andrew proposed a document regarding a better cryptography layer for validation that could reduce the cost of executing cryptography at a comparable level of security. However, Devrandom argued that the negative externalities of energy expenditure will soon go away due to the move towards renewables, making the point moot. The paper also demonstrated that the mining market tends to expend resources equivalent to miner rewards, but it did not prove that mining work has to expend energy as its primary cost. In response to Andrew's proposal, Ryan Grant shared an article from Truthcoin.info that argued "Nothing is Cheaper than Proof of Work". The article demonstrated that the market will tend to expend resources equivalent to miner rewards, and it did not prove that energy expenditure has to be the primary cost of mining work. Andrew had also mentioned a staking hybrid in his original post, which could be a change to dynamics and the economic forces at work. However, staking is not censorship-resistant and is therefore considered cryptodynamically insecure, which means it wouldn't likely be considered a contribution to Bitcoin. Non-staking attempts to improve energy efficiency are either proof of work in disguise or attempts to repurpose "wasteful" computing, neither of which imply a reduction in dedicated energy consumption.Waste and renewable energy approaches at "carbon" reduction must still consume the same in cost as the reward, representing a temporary market shift with an advantage to first movers. The one thing that reduces Bitcoin energy consumption is an increase in energy cost relative to block reward. Finally, Andrew asked whether he should use the Media Wiki format on GitHub and attach it as his proposal, to which no response was given in the email thread.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T19:11:21.058313+00:00