Bitcoin has been in the news lately again for it’s high power consumption and it’s effect on the environment. The topic is controversial, but there’s little doubt that the legacy Proof of Work (POW) mining algorithm employed by the Bitcoin network is resource intensive and requires an avoidable activity to solve mathematical puzzles to solve blocks. Further, the difficulty rises with the increasing computational power and the incentive to mine BTCs, because of the rising prices, exacerbating the situation. Here are the eco-friendly alternatives to Bitcoin.
Nano (NANO)
Nano runs on the low-resource and power efficient Delegated Proof of Stake (POS) algorithm. It is a zero fee low latency payments geared cryptocurrency. It features instant transactions and high scalability. Since it’s launch in ’15, the total supply of $133M is in circulation and Nano doesn’t have any inflation schedule. On a per transaction basis, Nano uses 2-5 millions times less power than Bitcoin.
Ethereum 2.0 (ETH)
The current Ethereum network runs of Proof of Work (POW), however that won’t be the case in the future as the Ethereum 2.0 network is rolled out. Ethereum 2.0 is the next big upgrade for the Ethereum network. It will bring Proof of Stake (POS), eWASM and sharding. It will reduce the resources, required to run the Ethereum network, as well as bring scalability and performance improvements.
Despite the need to run validators to provide computational power, the network would use significantly less power to process activity and power up the blockchain. The Eth2 upgrade will be implemented in three phases, with the first Phase 0 Beacon Chain, expected by the end of Q2 2020, which will introduce the staking facility. This will be followed by the Phase 1 in Q1 2021, which will introduce sharding and allow data to be stored on shards without transactions processing.
The Phase 2 will make the Ethereum 2.0 truly complete and the network operational, after its introduction at some point in 2022. It will bring the Ethereum WebAssembly (eWASM) replacing the now operational Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM). Only after the Phase 2 has been rolled out, proper execution of smart contracts and transactions can commence on the new Eth2 chain. The Eth1 and Eth2 chain will gradually merge with each other.
Polkadot (DOT)
Polkadot is a project to connect public/private blockchains, oracles, DApps and services. It is a sharded bridge protocol, which aims to facilitate communication, security pooling and value transfer between different blockchains. The blockchain connector uses the resource-light Nominated Proof of Stake (NPoS) algorithm, which is accessible for participation by DOT holders. Instead of needing large amounts of electricity to perform repetitive calculations using specialized hardware, Polkadot relies on staked tokens assigned to validators for which users are rewarded for honest participation and punished/slashed for dishonest behavior.
It is super easy to buy Ethereum. Just take a look at our exchange comparison!
Follow us on Social Media and subscribe to our free crypto newsletter!
@Telegram
@Instagram
@Twitter
@TikTok
@Facebook
Diskutiere mit uns!
This post may contain promotional links that help us fund the site. When you click on the links, we receive a commission - but the prices do not change for you! :)
Disclaimer: The authors of this website may have invested in crypto currencies themselves. They are not financial advisors and only express their opinions. Anyone considering investing in crypto currencies should be well informed about these high-risk assets.
Trading with financial products, especially with CFDs involves a high level of risk and is therefore not suitable for security-conscious investors. CFDs are complex instruments and carry a high risk of losing money quickly through leverage. Be aware that most private Investors lose money, if they decide to trade CFDs. Any type of trading and speculation in financial products that can produce an unusually high return is also associated with increased risk to lose money. Note that past gains are no guarantee of positive results in the future.
You might also like
More from Bitcoin News
Breaking News – American Giant SQUARE BUYS Bitcoins…AGAIN!
Despite the recent crash, american giant SQUARE buys USD 170 million worth of Bitcoins. Why do such companies invest in …
Correction Day is HERE! Should you Sell or start Buying Cryptos?
Should you start buying, hold your cryptos or sell everything? Correction day is here and the crypto market lost more …
Bitcoin Prices Drop as NFT’s Sell Big.
After a bullish run that saw bitcoin price achieve a new all-time high of $58,332, the past 24 hours have …