Rethinking Proof of Work: The Quest to Improve Bitcoin Heats Up
In a world barreling onward in the name of efficiency, bitcoin stands out for the purposeful way it's anything but. This 'deficiency' was the focus of many talks at day two of Stanford’s security conference, Blockchain Protocol Analysis and Security Engineering 2017. For all its benefits, the system that secures bitcoin, proof of work (PoW), is estimated to require as much electricity as all of Denmark by 2020, and many researchers see this as a prize problem to solve. But, the bad news is that, so far, it's proven difficult to find an alternative that provides as much security as....
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To understand Bitcoin, people need to understand Proof-Of-Work. It might be the most crucial aspect of the network. Proof-Of-Work provides security, resolves the issuance problem, and guarantees “a ledger of ownership and transactions that is beyond dispute.” And that’s just the beginning. How does Proof-Of-Work accomplish all that? That’s what this section is all about. […]
A text threatening to prohibit cryptocurrencies relying on energy-intensive proof-of-work mining has been deleted from the draft legislation aimed at regulating the European crypto space. The move comes after the controversial provision sparked objections from the crypto community. MiCA Proposal Drops Ban on Proof-of-Work Coins Wording that could have banned cryptocurrencies with proof-of-work (PoW) mining, like bitcoin, is missing in the latest version of EU’s Markets in Crypto Assets (MiCA) framework. The European Parliament (EP) was expected to approve the proposal on the last....
It is evident that proof-of-work is a pure representation of free-market forces as opposed to the control of proof-of-stake.
Proof-of-work is the innovation that drives energy innovation. Proof-of-stake ensures the richest among us will continue their control over others.
As politicians and environmentalists have argued Bitcoin should move away from proof of work, they miss what makes the network so innovative.