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Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin
Amid the current climate emergency and global energy crisis, regulators have started to consider their options to limit the power demand of cryptocurrency networks. One specific way crypto-asset communities can limit their environmental impact is by avoiding or replacing the energy-intensive proof-o...
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Formato: | Online Artículo Texto |
Lenguaje: | English |
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Elsevier
2022
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Acceso en línea: | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9868653/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36699742 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2022.100633 |
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author | De Vries, Alex |
author_facet | De Vries, Alex |
author_sort | De Vries, Alex |
collection | PubMed |
description | Amid the current climate emergency and global energy crisis, regulators have started to consider their options to limit the power demand of cryptocurrency networks. One specific way crypto-asset communities can limit their environmental impact is by avoiding or replacing the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining mechanism. Ethereum, the second largest crypto-asset by market capitalization, had its PoW replaced with an alternative known as proof-of-stake during an event called The Merge on September 15, 2022. In this perspective, the likely range of electricity saved due to this change is estimated, while the limitations in assessing these figures are highlighted. Lastly, the challenges and opportunities in replicating The Merge on other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are discussed. |
format | Online Article Text |
id | pubmed-9868653 |
institution | National Center for Biotechnology Information |
language | English |
publishDate | 2022 |
publisher | Elsevier |
record_format | MEDLINE/PubMed |
spelling | pubmed-98686532023-01-24 Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin De Vries, Alex Patterns (N Y) Perspective Amid the current climate emergency and global energy crisis, regulators have started to consider their options to limit the power demand of cryptocurrency networks. One specific way crypto-asset communities can limit their environmental impact is by avoiding or replacing the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) mining mechanism. Ethereum, the second largest crypto-asset by market capitalization, had its PoW replaced with an alternative known as proof-of-stake during an event called The Merge on September 15, 2022. In this perspective, the likely range of electricity saved due to this change is estimated, while the limitations in assessing these figures are highlighted. Lastly, the challenges and opportunities in replicating The Merge on other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin are discussed. Elsevier 2022-12-06 /pmc/articles/PMC9868653/ /pubmed/36699742 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2022.100633 Text en © 2022 The Author(s) https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). |
spellingShingle | Perspective De Vries, Alex Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin |
title | Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin |
title_full | Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin |
title_fullStr | Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin |
title_full_unstemmed | Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin |
title_short | Cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: Ethereum paving the way for Bitcoin |
title_sort | cryptocurrencies on the road to sustainability: ethereum paving the way for bitcoin |
topic | Perspective |
url | https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC9868653/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/36699742 http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.patter.2022.100633 |
work_keys_str_mv | AT devriesalex cryptocurrenciesontheroadtosustainabilityethereumpavingthewayforbitcoin |