Bitcoin’s energy use has long been a hot-button issue. Some devs say the solution may lie in a more energy-efficient form of computer processing that uses lasers. gckaloudis explains optical proof-of-work. MiningWeek presented by FoundryServices
Another argument oPoW proponents make is that the main source of Bitcoin’s network security comes from game theory as opposed to its energy use. The idea here is that bitcoin miners are compelled to be good actors; otherwise, their mining equipment and bitcoin would become worthless if a successful attack on the network were carried out.
In the early days of bitcoin mining, we saw China dominate, owing to its glut of cheap energy. That cheap, abundant energy was a result of China looking to aggressively expand its economy and become energy independent. In doing so, China overbuilt its power generation capacity. Bitcoin mining ended up coalescing within China because China fulfilled bitcoin miners' needs for cheap input costs to keep operating expenses down.
Simply shifting the cost curve to up-front cost might lead to the exact opposite centralization problem. Instead of most bitcoin mining ending up near cheap, abundant energy sources that popped up in developing, labor-abundant countries, like China, they might coalesce in developed, capital-abundant countries, like the United States. Specialized mining chips, or ASICs, already have a high-ticket price – imagine if they were even more expensive.
Next, oPoW may not work in practice. It’s still a theory, and although it has been put through the wringer that is the developer brain trust, no one knows how oPoW will behave and work when real people start using it and their money is at stake. Just like the lack of commercially successful implementations of proof-of-stake, oPoW is untested, particularly in Bitcoin.
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