Block Star, a new podcast series from Ripple, invites special guest to join Ripple CTO David Schwartz in each episode where they explore different impact of the Blockchain technology. The latest episode feature AIKON CEO Marc Blinder who discussed the impact of sustainable blockchains on the mass adoption of digital assets, and the environmental impact of cryptocurrencies.
The latest episode was recorded on Tuesday, May 19th. A blog post on Ripple official website summarizes David Schwartz and Marc Blinder’s discussion.
According to the blog post, the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism that underlies the Bitcoin network dissipated a huge amount of electricity. According to a study published by Cell.com in June 2019, states the annual electricity consumption of Bitcoin, as of November 2018, to be 45.8 TWh and estimate that annual carbon emissions range from 22.0 to 22.9 MtCO2.
March Blinder, about this scenario, said:
“The thing about proof of work is you’re basically turning electricity into money. The more Bitcoin is worth, the more electricity it requires to operate the system, because there’s a lot more competition. Environmental destruction is built into the system.”
He said that there were some businesses that were doing sustainable Proof-of-Work mining by using renewable energy sources and it should be done like this. He emphasized that crypto and blockchain industry as a whole should adopt renewable energy resources. Marc also believes that crypto space does not need any Proof-of-Work blockchain other than Bitcoin. He also seems excited about the Ethereum migration to Proof-of-Stake consensus.
According to Marc, these slow and expensive crypto mining practices are steep hills towards the widespread adoption of cryptocurrencies. He further said that a sustainable Blockchain is not the only solution. To reach and engage new audience also needs a great users experience that makes easy it for average person to use cryptocurrencies.
Citing Tesla as an example, AIKON CEO said:
“Tesla [has] a better car and it’s good for the environment. The problems with mass adoption are actually on the front-end user experience level. A quality experience for the average person will make the biggest impact. We need very efficient systems if we want to use blockchain for [a range of] different use cases in the future.”
AIKON, based in San Francisco, helps business to connect with multiple blockchains in a cost effective manner. The platform allows businesses to seamlessly move their customers onto the blockchain. The AIKON’s ORE ID tool makes account light for easy onboarding. The company aims to empower developers with blockchain infrastructure, tools, and services.
