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- Chris Larsen is said to be funding an environmental campaign concerning the environmental harms that Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work model causes.
- Several environmental groups will run ads across major newspapers utilizing his funds, to convince concerned entities to discontinue the proof-of-work model.
- But is it possible for a vast network like Bitcoin to Shift from a basic PoW model to PoS?
Co-Founder and Angel Investor of Ripple, Chris Larsen is said to be funding an environmental campaign concerning the high energy consumption and environmental harms that mining Bitcoin causes.
How Exactly The Campaign Would Work?
Several environmental groups will run ads across major newspapers utilizing his funds, to convince software developers, miners, and others to discontinue the proof-of-work model. His intention is not against Bitcoin, but against the working mechanism, hence the aim is to convince it to take a shift from PoW to the Proof-of-Stake model.
According to the advisor of the campaign, former Sierra Club Director Michael Brune Bitcoin is contributing too much to global warming given the severity of climate change.
These concerns regarding Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work model have been in the sight of environment lovers for a long time now. As the model needs a high computational power and the mining farms that are a collection of computers built for Bitcoin mining consume massive amounts of electricity, so much that it can power a whole country.
And this has caught the attention of environmentally conscious folks including Chris Larsen who highlighted in an op-ed last year suggesting Bitcoin to shift to a model that is more energy-efficient. And now he has vowed $5 million to a campaign against Bitcoin mining which adds to a roughly $90 million that he has already donated to other such causes.
This campaign would be powered by the Environmental Working Group, Greenpeace USA, and others to place ads in publications including Politico, New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal. The ads will be focused on Bitcoin’s environmental impact, with specific industry leaders and figureheads which are said to include Tesla CEO Elon Musk, Block founder Jack Dorsey, etc.
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This initiative by Larsen is indeed a good one, but he does not believe that it will be enough if more miners move to renewable energy.
He argued in a lengthy Twitter thread, that the incentives of the industry will always lead to some folks opting to use oil and coal, which he thinks is unacceptable. He highlighted to the Bitcoiners that even though many of them won’t believe this, he is not working trying to work against them.
In Fact, now the second-largest cryptocurrency by market cap, Ethereum is also planning to shift entirely to Proof-of-Stake soon. And it is to look forward if Bitcoin considers the same, would it be possible for the vast network to make a shift towards the model.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast, with a major in macroeconomics and minor in business statistics. She believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks, and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning. She frequently researches, and posts content on the top altcoins, their theoretical working principles and technical price predictions.
