Chris Larsen, the co-founder of XRP XRP/USD issuer Ripple Labs, has unveiled a $5 million campaign to change Bitcoin’s BTC/USD consensus mechanism.
What Happened: The campaign “Change the Code, Not the Climate” will run advertisements in major media outlets to persuade the Bitcoin community and key stakeholders to change its code to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus mechanism from a proof-of-work (PoW) one.
Last year, I published an op-ed calling for Bitcoin to consider a move away from PoW to a low energy validation method. Today, I’d like to share an update on how my thinking has evolved on this front. https://t.co/8G3MKmiHYK
— Chris Larsen (@chrislarsensf) March 29, 2022
According to a Bloomberg report, Larsen has teamed up with several climate groups, including Greenpeace, to further his efforts in this regard.
The ads will be run on widely read platforms like the New York Times and Meta Platforms Inc’s FB Facebook, and will be aimed at some of Bitcoin’s most influential supporters including Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk and Square Inc SQ CEO Jack Dorsey.
In Larsen’s view, “only 30 people” will need to come together to change Bitcoin’s code into one that “would stop polluting the planet.”
“Now, with Ethereum ETH/USD changing, Bitcoin really is the outlier,” said Larsen, highlighting Ethereum’s shift to PoS, which is expected to come into effect this June.
The Bitcoin community was sufficiently outraged at Larsen’s proposal, with many taking to Twitter to voice their displeasure.
Chris Larsen – who in a just society would be in jail for the bad faith investor misrepresentations he and his team made regarding their XRP sales – is spending money attacking the industry that created his ill gotten multi-billion dollar fortune. Judas.
— Ryan Selkis (@twobitidiot) March 29, 2022
Anyone who believes 50 miners and exchanges can force a change in Bitcoin’s code needs to read The Blocksize War by Jonathan Bier https://t.co/JlpMQx6zFZ pic.twitter.com/tbxBmS9yat
— Jerry Brito (@jerrybrito) March 29, 2022
I’m very open-minded to PoS as an alternative consensus mechanism to PoW, not because it’s “better” but because it’s different; different costs/benefits and different attack surface.
But no, Bitcoin should not consider it, and there is zero interest among Bitcoiners for it.
— Erik Voorhees (@ErikVoorhees) March 29, 2022
“I’d put the chance of Bitcoin ever moving to PoS at exactly 0%. There is no appetite among Bitcoiners to destroy the security of the protocol by making such a move,” said CoinShares researcher Chris Bendiksen to Bloomberg.
Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, Bitcoin BTC/USD was trading at $47,100, down 0.94% in the last 24 hours.
