Proof of Stake Could Offer a Solution to Energy Concerns

Over the last few days, Elon Musk said Tesla could start to accept Bitcoin as payment again, if at least half of it can be mined using clean energy.

“When there’s confirmation of reasonable (~50%) clean energy usage by miners with a positive future trend, Tesla will resume allowing Bitcoin transactions,” he tweeted. A way to process blockchain transactions with near zero energy use is by using technology called Proof-of-Stake.  With it, companies, like Tokens.com Corp. (NEO:COIN)  can perform the same work as a crypto miner—with a similar compensation structure — but in an environmentally friendly way.  Other miners to keep an eye on include Riot Blockchain (NASDAQ:RIOT), Marathon Digital Holdings Inc. (NASDAQ:MARA), HIVE Blockchain Technologies Ltd. (TSXV:HIVE)(OTC:HVBTF), and Bit Digital Inc. (NASDAQ:BTBT).

As reported by NBC News, “Because the basis of proof of stake doesn’t require any extra energy to prove trustworthiness, it is much more energy efficient. Unlike in proof of work, where specialized computing equipment like high-end graphics cards are needed, the proof of stake protocol can be run off of a laptop. The nodes are virtual spaces, not physical equipment.”