ETH founder blasts BTC developer for criticizing the PoS consensus

05-Jul-2022 By: Simran Mishra

ETH founder blasts BTC developer for criticizing

the PoS consensus mechanism

Vitalik Buterin, the founder of Ethereum, has stepped forward to defend the Proof-of-Stake (PoS) mechanism against claims that the protocol does not provide a decentralized consensus. Jimmy Song, a Bitcoin developer, led the charge against PoS by pointing out that the protocol does not solve the Byzantine General's Problem.

Solving Byzantine General's Problem

It is important to note that the Byzantine General's Problem relates to the difficulties decentralized systems have in reaching a consensus on a single fact. Notably, the issue has long affected the currency, and the advent of Bitcoin was seen as a potential solution thanks to Proof-of-Work (PoW).

Additionally, Bitcoin attempts to provide a general solution to the issue, wherein the support of more than 50% of the computer power is sufficient to establish a consensus. The difficulty is overcome by several miners, with each acting as a commander. Each node here attempts to validate transactions that are equivalent to general communications.

Another approach to solve the Byzantine General's Problem effectively and sustainably without the high energy and hardware expenses associated with PoW coins is the usage of PoS.

The process also eliminates the economies of scale from which the larger miners in PoW benefit, while PoS offers each user an equal opportunity.

The Byzantine General's Problem is another issue that PoS seeks to resolve by enabling the dispersed and uncoordinated generals to reach a consensus despite slow communication.

Criticism of PoW

Notably, Ethereum is transitioning from the PoW mechanism to the PoS mechanism. Currently, governments all over the world are concerned about PoW energy consumption rates, which are seen as environmentally unsustainable.

As CoinGabbar earlier reported, the New York Senate approved a measure that imposes a two-year ban on any new PoW mining projects in the state that use carbon-based fuel.

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