Solana’s co-founder has joined the growing list of people that want Bitcoin (BTC) to switch to a proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism. The environmental impacts associated with Bitcoin mining form part of the reasons for his “controversial position.”
In an interview with CNBC’s Kate Rooney, Anatoly Yakovenko, co-founder of Solana, said it was his opinion that the largest cryptocurrency network should switch to PoS.
“This is probably the most controversial thing that you’ll get me to say but eventually if it [Bitcoin] doesn’t move to proof of stake, nobody is going to use it,” Yakovenko said.
The environmental impacts of Bitcoin mining are part of the factors that influence his suggestion. He goes on to add that aside from the environmental effects, “it is simply more efficient to build a proof of stake system” and from an engineering perspective, it offers the same levels of protection.
Yakovenko notes that Bitcoin’s nature as a proof of work (PoW) cryptocurrency might explain the reason why the network does not have a thriving layer-2 ecosystem. Instead, it is basking in the role of a store of value but “maybe that works for now but we’ll see what happens in ten years.”
Bitcoin adopted the proof of work model as a way to protect the network and prevent double-spend. In the early years, miners could validate transactions using a PC or desktop computer but as the network grew in size, it evolved into demanding incredible levels of energy.
Solana’s chief not the first to call for switch
Ripple’s co-founder, Chris Larsen made a proposal for Bitcoin to adopt a proof of stake model early this year. He took things up a notch with the launch of “Change the Code, Not the Climate”, a campaign designed to raise awareness of Bitcoin’s environmental impact.
Ethereum (ETH), the second-largest cryptocurrency network is moving to proof of stake later this year. ETH is second on the list of the most staked crypto assets with $32.89 billion in staked value.
Yakovenko hailed Solana as one of the leading PoS networks because of its speed and efficiency. Solana has earned the reputation of being an Ethereum killer but has been plagued with bouts of downtime.
“I spent most of my career making code as energy-efficient on mobile as I could and I would be ashamed if Solana wasn’t as energy-efficient as possible,” said Yakovenko.
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