Author: Billy Tetrud 2021-05-25 01:52:51
Published on: 2021-05-25T01:52:51+00:00
Proof of Burn is an alternative to Proof of Stake and Proof of Work that provides a secure way to mine coins. When coins are burned, they are tied to a specific block height and can only be used to mine on that chain deterministically. This eliminates the "nothing at stake" problem and ensures that miners have a long-term investment in the stability of the chain. Also, Proof of Burn eliminates the energy dependence and potential for state monopolies on mining, which could lead to censorship.On the other hand, some individuals engaged in a discussion on the bitcoin-dev mailing list argue that PoS can be more secure and less resource-intensive than PoW, which is currently used by Bitcoin. However, others contend that PoS has trade-offs that are incompatible with Bitcoin's objective to be a trustless digital cash system. They also discuss the issue of centralization pressure in PoS and the security thresholds of PoS versus PoW.Furthermore, the Bitcoin community is discussing the use of Verifiable Delay Functions (VDFs) as a means to achieve more constant block times and reduce the risk of 51% attacks. One proposal suggests using a current PoW mechanism with lower difficulty so that finding a block takes an average of one minute, reducing the variation in block times. However, there are concerns about VDFs being progress-free, which may result in miners competing to pump more energy into the circuitry to gain an advantage.Michael Dubrovsky, founder of PoWx, is participating in these discussions. While PoS protocols such as Cardano's Ouroboros Praos and Algorand's approach may not be fit for a global settlement layer in a pure digital asset like Bitcoin, Proof of Burn is simpler and more secure with no complexity or extraneous responsibilities for coin holders.
Updated on: 2023-06-14T21:27:48.367671+00:00