A recent write-up released by Chris Larsen, Ripple's co-founder, shows that the crypto executive has a bone to pick with Bitcoin and altcoins that leverage proof-of-work (PoW) consensus mechanism.
According to the write-up, Larsen unequivocally stated that the crypto world, Bitcoin especially, needs to abandon the PoW consensus mechanism because of its effect on the environment.
The executive claims that there are a ton of mechanisms better and more energy-efficient than the PoW — proof-of-state (PoS) one of those.
Crypto projects that leverage proof-of-stake has been known to be more efficient and consume only a tiny fraction of energy, the co-founder asserts.
Citing Ripple's consensus mechanism, Federated Consensus, as an example, Chris Larsen revealed that the network has been able to validate over 69 million transactions on a public ledger for nine years while using an energy equivalent of about 50 United States homes annually, way less than what Bitcoin and other PoW-based networks use in two quarters.
Ethereum’s recent decision to segue to the PoS mechanism as part of its forthcoming upgrade is proof that the PoW may not be the best mechanism for networks seeking global adoption.