Ethereum is the second biggest cryptocurrency with a massive $10 billion market capitalization. It also means that Ethereum mining and transactions gobble up tons of energy. Well, things might change by the end of 2019.
According to a report from IEEE Spectrum, Vitalik Buterin, the computer scientist who invented Ethereum, is planning a major overhaul. Buterin is supported by the Ethereum Foundation and the open source movement to perform the long-overdue field test of Ethereum’s code overhaul to reduce energy consumption by 99%.
Some of you might already know that the ability to store data is what sets this crypto coin apart from the likes of Bitcoin. With the help of smart contracts, there are many million-dollar apps running on Ethereum.
However, Buterin suspects that the amount of resources being consumed by Ethereum is much more than it’s giving in return. “There are real consumers—real people—whose need for electricity is being displaced by this stuff,” he said.
While Ethereum’s algorithm discourages use of Application-specific ICs (ASICs) for faster mining, it can’t stop the miners from devoting more and more computing resources.
So, to reduce the energy usage, Buterin plans to replace Proof of Work (PoW) with Proof of Stake (PoS). It’s expected to enhance security, lower energy consumption, and help in avoiding diluting currency’s value. You can read IEEE’s report to know about these changes in detail.
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