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These "Bitcoin is using too much energy" articles are posted almost weekly here. With all the great minds in the world, instead of fighting and complaining, wh

These "Bitcoin is using too much energy" articles are posted almost weekly here. With all the great minds in the world, instead of fighting and complaining, why hasn't anybody come up with something better than Proof-of-Work to keep Bitcoin alive? Bitcoin is open source, if there is something that can keep the network secure without using all the energy, feel free to submit a bitcoin improvement proposal (BIP). After all, if the world would agree and shutdown the Bitcoin network today, all the energy after all these years would "really" be wasted.

Udo 6y ago
Proof-of-work's advantage is that it was first and is thus the standard. It's not a good standard, but it'll be around for some time. > why hasn't anybody come up with something better In theory, anything with (artificial) scarcity could work, and not all crypto currencies are "energy credits". For example, you could trivially start a new crypto currency where all the coins already exist and from there on out it's just the energy of processing transactions. I don't think this could be tacked on to BTC as an improvement plan though. Bitcoin being an energy equivalent is just too entrenched in its DNA.
Freak_NL 6y ago
The energy invested is already wasted — it is literally proof of pointless work after all. If Bitcoin mining stopped tomorrow the world would see a net benefit. And saying 'patches welcome' is a cheap way to dismiss the criticism of Bitcoin being extremely wasteful. With the amount of money invested in Bitcoin now changing the way it works goes against the interests of so many Bitcoin investors that I doubt anyone can get it fixed even if a viable solution existed.
- andirk 6y ago
  And the answer is always yes it is energy-intensive but when properly compared to its counterpart of fiat currency, it isn't that wasteful. Nonetheless, there are dozens of well-oiled projects out there that are less energy intensive that may marry with btc well.

Udo 6y ago

Proof-of-work's advantage is that it was first and is thus the standard. It's not a good standard, but it'll be around for some time. > why hasn't anybody come up with something better In theory, anything with (artificial) scarcity could work, and not all crypto currencies are "energy credits". For example, you could trivially start a new crypto currency where all the coins already exist and from there on out it's just the energy of processing transactions. I don't think this could be tacked on to BTC as an improvement plan though. Bitcoin being an energy equivalent is just too entrenched in its DNA.

Freak_NL 6y ago

The energy invested is already wasted — it is literally proof of pointless work after all. If Bitcoin mining stopped tomorrow the world would see a net benefit. And saying 'patches welcome' is a cheap way to dismiss the criticism of Bitcoin being extremely wasteful. With the amount of money invested in Bitcoin now changing the way it works goes against the interests of so many Bitcoin investors that I doubt anyone can get it fixed even if a viable solution existed.

andirk 6y ago
And the answer is always yes it is energy-intensive but when properly compared to its counterpart of fiat currency, it isn't that wasteful. Nonetheless, there are dozens of well-oiled projects out there that are less energy intensive that may marry with btc well.