The consensus doesn't have to be based on PoW. Almost all interesting cryptocurrencies (well, interesting to me) use or plan to use proof-of-share mechanisms.

The consensus doesn't have to be based on PoW. Almost all interesting cryptocurrencies (well, interesting to me) use or plan to use proof-of-share mechanisms. Check out Algorand, for instance: https://www.algorand.com/how-it-works/ https://www.algorand.com/how-it-works/