Author: honest69abe 2021-05-08 02:40:34
Published on: 2021-05-08T02:40:34+00:00
The impact of Bitcoin mining on energy usage has been a matter of concern for many people. However, it is important to note that it is not the energy usage itself that is a cause for shame, but rather the composition of that energy usage. Estimates suggest that Bitcoin's energy usage is between 20-80% renewable, but what is more important is the fact that Bitcoin mining introduces free-market demand for the cheapest energy source. This means that it incentivizes investment in the cheapest and cleanest forms of energy, such as geothermal, wind, solar, and hydro, which happen to be renewable energy sources. Bitcoin can potentially lead to civilization-changing innovations, such as solar farms in deserts and high-altitude wind.Jeremy Rubin, a Bitcoin developer, shared his thoughts on proof-of-stake (PoS) versus proof-of-work (PoW) as consensus mechanisms for Bitcoin. While he believes that it is okay to explore non-PoW means of consensus long-term, PoS tends towards oligopolistic control and has security issues that make it a bad substitute for PoW with respect to equivocation (reorgs). He suggests that if someone truly has a novel solution for Byzantine Generals that can keep the network in consensus in a more capital-efficient manner, it would be a major contribution to not just Bitcoin but also the field of computer science as a whole. However, Bitcoin PoW has specific properties around fairness that may be difficult to ensure in other systems, so there is probably more to the puzzle than just consensus.A lurker on the Bitcoin-dev mailing list expressed concern about the energy usage of Bitcoin mining and suggested the possibility of implementing PoS for Bitcoin mining in the future. However, Jeremy Rubin believes that PoS is not a good enough security mechanism and that PoW has some desirable properties that may be difficult to ensure in other systems. While it may be important to consider a hard fork if PoS does work after battle testing, it is a controversial topic that will inevitably lead to disagreements among Bitcoiners.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T21:18:06.789092+00:00