The European Union has recently proposed a ban on the proof of work consensus as it is not environmentally friendly. They even suggested the community consider shifting BTC to the proof of stake mechanism. Now leaked internal crypto documents of the EU show policymakers planning to protect Ethereum instead of Bitcoin. The reason has got to do with the PoS mechanism that ETH 2.0 will migrate to soon.
Leaked Internal documents of EU
Even though one might argue that Ethereum is much more environmentally friendly compared to Bitcoin, that doesn’t give the authorities the right to give it more preference. It totally goes against the free market if they start to pick winners and losers. If the European Union does push for Ethereum instead of Bitcoin, it will become more like the lawsuit between SEC and XRP. Even in that, ETH got preferential treatment while Ripple suffered by being called security.
The Internal documents also showed that they might officially request for the Bitcoin network to shift from PoW to a PoS network. Officials believe if Ethereum could do it, then why not Bitcoin. While moving to PoS will make BTC a lot more sustainable, it also has its own quirks.
Right now, Bitcoin uses nearly 131 TWh of electricity in a year, and it’s bound to grow with more users, but the adoption rate and energy usage growth aren’t going to be proportional. So, with time BTC is going to get more efficient.
Why it’s essential for BTC to stick to the proof of work consensus?
Proof of work consensus is more secure compared to the proof of stake mechanism. It also gives more people the opportunity to become a part of the network security because of the lower entry barrier. The network hash rate of BTC is so high and is climbing so fast that it is nearly impossible for anyone to capture more than 51% of the network. We can say the same for ETH as well, but again, it is comparatively easier. There are also a lot of technical challenges when migrating from a PoW to a PoS consensus. This is evident from the repeated delays of the ETH migration.
What are your thoughts as internal crypto documents of the EU are leaked showing ETH getting preferential treatment? Let us know in the comments below. Also, if you found our content informative, do like and share it with your friends.
Also Read: Central African Republic makes Bitcoin legal tender, becoming 2nd country to do so
