mining is not stupid, its classic art of crypto,
Mining is stupid.
Mining was a way to get cryptocoins started, just like sails and coal steamships were a way to get international commerce started. Today, container ships rule. So will Lisk.
Mining is stupid.
Mining is not stupid. Mining is a legitimate way to attract nerds to crypto. It is an art form. Assembling a GPU miner, configuring the settings, connecting to a pool, seeing the coins arrive in your wallet- it's an unforgettable and very rewarding experience. It brings a sense of realism to these abstract tokens we're creating and trading. It also fosters a virtual ecosystem around the platform.
It's OK if Lisk does staking instead of mining. We'll just be attracting a different type of nerd to the foray. It would be useful to think about all the mutually beneficial ways one could earn Lisk, because you're not going to setup a virtuous economic cycle if everyone has to buy their way into a token. For a contextual example of this problem, see NXT.
All right, but lets see the other side... it's causing a headache to POW investors, look to Bitcoin, it's all being monopolized by the dictatorial China and when you think in long term the problem become bigger.
And even with more than a billion of gigahashes and the waste of energy it's becoming too slow.