People moved to electric cars to save GAS/Patrol spending not to save the environment. Electric cars run on electricity and this electricity is mostly generated by burning fossil fuels.
PoW is power greedy and I don't think it will be replaced by any other consensus algo in the future. A counter argument is that bitcoin power consumption can be justified by using clean energy i.e. generated from water, wind, sun etc.
PoW is power greedy and I don't think it will be replaced by any other consensus algo in the future. A counter argument is that bitcoin power consumption can be justified by using clean energy i.e. generated from water, wind, sun etc.
That's certainly true, mate. There's basically no such thing as "environmentally-friendly". One way or another, fossil fuels are used, harming the environment as we know it. Bitcoin's energy consumption may seem high to many, but it's in fact low when compared to the amount of energy consumed by traditional financial institutions (aka banks). The pioneer cryptocurrency can go green, if miners decide to run their equipment on solar or wind energy. Saying that Bitcoin is harmful to the environment is only a failed attempt to spread FUD from mainstream media, banks, and wealthy people alike. No matter the criticism, Bitcoin will thrive because of its decentralized and censorship-resistant design. I don't think Bitcoin will switch to PoS in the future, because the consensus algorithm is not as secure as PoW is.
Nonetheless, it seems to me that PoW ain't going anywhere. High or low energy consumption won't make a difference since it's used to help secure the Blockchain. ASIC mining hardware will certainly improve over time as chips become more energy efficient than ever. As long as Bitcoin remains decentralized and censorship-resistant, nothing else matters. I'd envision a future where most altcoins will switch to PoS, while Bitcoin remains with the classic "Nakamoto Consensus". There are far more important things to focus on besides Bitcoin's energy consumption. Just my thoughts
the argument isn't so much as "where" the energy comes from, its that fact that it uses a great deal for computations.
Considering this is still an evolving market and seems that POW has the advantage of being more secure, what happens when exchanges start offering insured accounts up to x amount just like a bank. I believe Coinbase already has some type of account guaranty against unauthorized use. Its interesting of the 10 plus accounts I had the last five years with 50 plus different crypto's I never had an unauthorized transaction. However my Visa card has been compromised no less than five times.
Just thinking of the future and how things evolve, I was told BTC could never go to POS which I thought was the way.