A letter by a group of Democratic members of the US Congress attacking proof-of-work (PoW) mining and praising proof-of-stake (PoS) has caused an uproar in the Bitcoin (BTC) community, with Kraken CEO Jesse Powell claiming that âPoS fanatics attacking PoW are actual supervillains.â
In the letter, Congressman Jared Huffman described PoW mining, which Bitcoin is based on, as something that is âpoisoning our communities,â and contributing to âair, water, and noise pollution.â He also claimed that âBitcoin produces annually carbon emissions comparable to Greece,â and said PoS is an âavailableâ option that has â99.99 percent lower energy demands.â
Krakenâs CEO said of the comparison between PoW and PoS that,
âGame isn't zero-sum. Energy is fungible. Some things cost more energy because they're better. My laptop sucks more juice than my calculator for a reason. Both are good and can co-exist. They are not interchangeable.â
Similarly, Nic Carter, co-founder of Coin Metrics and General Partner at Castle Island Ventures, argued that the letter was full of false statements.
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