Author: Cloud Strife 2021-05-09 19:07:43
Published on: 2021-05-09T19:07:43+00:00
Proof of stake (PoS) is a permissioned network that requires the internal, permissioned, and already owned resource of coins for validation. This means that permission must be given in order to gain tokens, creating an infinite barrier to entry and making it difficult for independent parties to gain control. Unlike proof of work (PoW), which forces miners to give up control through external permissionless resources and unforgeable costliness, PoS incentivizes those in control to keep control by rewarding them with more coins and perpetuating their control at no cost. Since there is no mechanism in PoS that forces control to be distributed to others, parties in control cannot be considered independent nor can control be considered decentralized. PoS has been studied many times since its implementation in 2014 and has been dismissed repeatedly for its irrelevance to decentralized permissionless technology. There have been attempts to replace PoW with proof of bitcoin burn on blockchains other than Bitcoin, but there is currently no known replacement for PoW for Bitcoin. While Bitcoin mining introduces the first free-market demand for the cheapest energy source, access to technologically advanced hardware is seen as a stronger component than energy. Open community chip fabs could potentially change this by allowing more people to participate, but the hardware barrier still keeps the common person out. The energy economy still has more supply than competition or renewable energy would quickly outcompete nonrenewable as the price dropped.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T20:47:08.146709+00:00