The discussion of whether Bitcoin (BTC) should switch to proof of stake (PoS), where BTC miners are no longer needed is still ongoing. The chairman of the US regulator Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC), Rostin Behnam, recently added some fuel to the fire. Statements show that he prefers to see Bitcoin move towards PoS.
Bitcoin miners use a lot of energy but with little economic output
Behnam made his statements at POLITICO’s Sustainability Summit, of which Forbes reported. He was asked, among other things, how he views energy consumption, and he was clear about this:
“There is a clear dislocation between the uses and generation required to mine these cryptos and the kind of economic output we see from digital assets themselves. That may rebalance over time, but right now it’s clearly skewed.”
Mining BTC takes a lot of energy because miners have to solve complex calculations. This Proof of Work (PoW) mechanism makes it virtually impossible to attack the network. In addition to PoW, there is also PoS, which consumes a lot less power because miners are no longer needed. Behnam said of this:
†[Steeds meer mensen in de industrie beginnen] recognize this problem and start thinking about different ways of mining. You may be familiar with these terms ‘proof-of-work’ vs ‘proof-of-stake’ and these are just methods of mining crypto… proof-of-work becomes much more energy-intensive than proof-of-stake and much of these developers are beginning to move toward proof-of-stake,”
Crypto market must be pushed towards PoS
Behnam therefore proposes to show the buyer a notification during the crypto purchase stating how much power the crypto consumes. This would “shift the market towards more proof-of-stake functionality or other functionalities that will reduce that energy consumption.”
Whether Bitcoin ever switches to PoS is highly doubtful. For the real Bitcoiners, it is one of the core values of the cryptocurrency. Mining makes the network very robust and secure. Moreover, mining also offers a lot of opportunities with regard to the energy transition.
