The co-founder of Ripple advised Bitcoin developers to consider moving from the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus algorithm to the Proof of Stake (PoS). Larsen drew attention to the negative environmental impact of mining the first cryptocurrency. He believes that any networks using a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus would benefit from switching to PoS and other consensus options that have such a carbon footprint. It is possible that more energy efficient mining algorithms will be created in order to reduce the negative impact on the environment. This could be a decisive factor in the massive adoption of Bitcoin and its position as the dominant cryptocurrency.
Larsen’s opinion was published on the background of bitcoin dominance decrease. In April, bitcoin dominance dropped below half of the cryptocurrency market. The market of altcoins often breaks forward, when the main crypto price is corrected.
In turn, the Swiss cryptocurrency broker Bitcoin Suisse also suggested that Bitcoin developers can switch to PoS if Ethereum is successfully upgraded to version 2.0.
The disagreements between the supporters of PoW and PoS have been going on for years. Proof of Work proponents argue that the Proof of Stake algorithm fails to provide the sufficient level of security and decentralization that the PoW consensus offers. At the same time, proponents of PoS contemplate the high electricity costs to be the main problem of the Proof of Work consensus, also the interval between blocks, since it is impossible to reduce it below a certain level.