Ripple executive chairman and co-founder Chris Larsen has unveiled his plan for Bitcoin (BTC) miners to move away from proof-of-work (PoW), saying they should view it as “a net positive for their longevity.” He argues it could provide a major boost to the share prices of listed mining firms, “as any new code proposal would almost certainly have to include lucrative incentives to gain their support.”

Ripple executive chairman and co-founder Chris Larsen has unveiled his plan for Bitcoin (BTC) miners to move away from proof-of-work (PoW), saying they should view it as “a net positive for their longevity.” He argues it could provide a major boost to the share prices of listed mining firms, “as any new code proposal would almost certainly have to include lucrative incentives to gain their support.”

PoW is the consensus algorithm that secures Bitcoin transactions on the blockchain. While the Bitcoin network is the most secure and reliable, the amount of energy BTC mining requires causes endless debate in the crypto space. In a Nov. 10 blog post, Larsen wrote:“The emerging solution among climate experts is that Bitcoin’s code needs to be changed to a low energy consensus algorithm like those used by nearly all other major crypto protocols. For example, while Bitcoin uses the energy of app...

PoW is the consensus algorithm that secures Bitcoin transactions on the blockchain. While the Bitcoin network is the most secure and reliable, the amount of energy BTC mining requires causes endless debate in the crypto space. In a Nov. 10 blog post, Larsen wrote:“The emerging solution among climate experts is that Bitcoin’s code needs to be changed to a low energy consensus algorithm like those used by nearly all other major crypto protocols. For example, while Bitcoin uses the energy of app...

He suggests that the “least disruptive” solution to Bitcoin’s energy problem is to “take a snapshot of the current hash rate of existing miners and then reward miners on a pro-rata hash power basis.”“Existing miners would simply have rights to future Bitcoin rewards without the need to expend additional energy or make additional investments in mining rigs.”

He suggests that the “least disruptive” solution to Bitcoin’s energy problem is to “take a snapshot of the current hash rate of existing miners and then reward miners on a pro-rata hash power basis.”“Existing miners would simply have rights to future Bitcoin rewards without the need to expend additional energy or make additional investments in mining rigs.”

Ethereum is already halfway through switching to proof-of-stake. While Larsen said this would make Bitcoin an “outlier,” he concedes that any similar change would be opposed by most Bitcoin mining companies. However, he’s proposed a solution to fairly distribute the “900 Bitcoin per day” from block rewards and the “approximately 2.1 million additional Bitcoin [that] are to be distributed through the year 2140.”

Ethereum is already halfway through switching to proof-of-stake. While Larsen said this would make Bitcoin an “outlier,” he concedes that any similar change would be opposed by most Bitcoin mining companies. However, he’s proposed a solution to fairly distribute the “900 Bitcoin per day” from block rewards and the “approximately 2.1 million additional Bitcoin [that] are to be distributed through the year 2140.”