Bitcoin uses the proof of work (PoW) protocol, but there have been environmental concerns regarding this consensus mechanism in recent years.
Greenpeace, along with other climate groups, has launched a new initiative designed to change Bitcoin’s consensus mechanism to a more environmentally-friendly one.
Bitcoin, the world’s first cryptocurrency, was designed to work with the PoW mechanism, which relies on miners. However, several reports over the years have shown that cryptocurrency mining consumes a lot of energy, and this has an adverse effect on the environment.
Chris Larsen, the co-founder of Ripple, is also the head of some of these climate groups. The recently-launched initiative aims to pressure key industry leaders, Bitcoin miners, and influencers like Elon Musk and Jack Dorsey into adopting a new consensus model for Bitcoin.
In an interview with Bloomberg earlier today, Larsen said;
“If only 30 people — the key miners, exchanges, and core developers who build and contribute to Bitcoin’s code — agreed to reinvent proof-of-work mining or move to a low-energy protocol, Bitcoin would stop polluting the planet.”
According to Greenpeace, most of the energy required to mine Bitcoin comes, with miners using fossil fuels like coal and others to mine the cryptocurrencies. Larsen added that;
“Now with Ethereum changing, Bitcoin really is the outlier. Some of the newer protocols, Solana and Cardano are built on low energy,”
Greenpeace suggests Bitcoin moves to a proof of stake protocol, similar to what Ethereum is doing at the moment.
Larsen revealed that he currently owns Bitcoin and Ether and is eager to see both cryptocurrencies succeed. However, he believes that Bitcoin is heading down an unsustainable path.
The Ripple CEO added that if he had concerns that Bitcoin is a competition to Ripple, h would let it continue.
Bitcoin remains the leading cryptocurrency and is currently trading above $47k per coin.
