Bitcoin News and Finance
Low Energy Proof-of-Work: Bitcoin Improvement Proposal Wants to Change Network’s Algorithm Skip to main content

Low Energy Proof-of-Work: Bitcoin Improvement Proposal Wants to Change Network’s Algorithm

Low Energy Proof-of-Work: Bitcoin Improvement Proposal Wants to Change Network's Algorithm

The most topical conversation in the world of cryptocurrencies right now is the effects of bitcoin mining on the global environment after Elon Musk heated up the conversation. Following the recent Tesla announcement, the cofounder of Siphox and Powx, Michael Dubrovsky, revealed the nonprofit Powx has recently submitted a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) that aims to produce a “durable, low energy” Bitcoin Proof-of-Work (PoW) system.

A Low Energy PoW Proposal Submitted to the Bitcoin Developer’s Mailing List

This week Tesla’s Elon Musk ignited the conversation surrounding bitcoin mining and the effects on the global environment. Musk’s company also said that it was choosing not to accept bitcoin (BTC) for electric car purchases. Following the statements from Tesla, the fintech payments firm Square told the public it would not purchase bitcoin going forward and also cited environmental concerns.

Then Musk tweeted that he truly cared about the crypto ecosystem and said: “To be clear, I strongly believe in crypto, but it can’t drive a massive increase in fossil fuel use, especially coal.” Although, this tweet was followed by responses showing a Tesla car being charged by electricity which obtained power from coal in North Dakota.

Meanwhile, a great number of developers, from alternative blockchains that utilize little to no energy to secure and confirm transactions, shilled their projects. Programmers behind proof-of-stake (PoS) projects and other types of blockchains that are less energy-intensive.

But after Musk tweeted about his concerns about coal, he also said he was working with the developers behind the Dogecoin network. “Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising,” he said on Friday.

On the same day, Michael Dubrovsky cofounder of the nonprofit Powx tweeted that his team submitted a low-energy PoW proposal to the Bitcoin developer’s mailing list.

“We (at powx.org) have had a draft of a Bitcoin Improvement Proposal— Durable, Low Energy Bitcoin PoW—for a while now,” Dubrovsky remarked on Twitter. “Looks like the energy issue is finally getting some attention. Bitcoin can be made compatible [with] low-energy optical compute,” the Powx cofounder added.

Heavyhash- Bitcoin Mining and Photonics

Bitcoin.com News has reported on the Powx project before, back when Michael Dubrovsky, Marshall Ball, and Bogdan Penkovsky published a paper that described a “novel PoW algorithm.” The researcher’s paper details how the algorithm dubbed “Optical Proof-of-Work (OPOW)” could annihilate energy dependency by leveraging photonics. The project’s website says Powx is a nonprofit “dedicated to developing PoW cryptography compatible with ultra-energy-efficient optical computing.” In Powx’s BIP summary the developers’ note:

From a practical perspective, bitcoin adoption by companies like Tesla (which recently rescinded its acceptance of bitcoin as payment) has been hampered by its massive energy consumption and perceived environmental impact.

The team has developed a cryptographic algorithm called “Heavyhash,” which would take the place of Bitcoin’s SHA256 algorithm. The BIP summary written by Powx further says that the algorithm Heavyhash is compatible with “ultra-energy-efficient photonic co-processors.” The products are specifically developed for machine learning, Powx’s proposal details.

“Heavyhash uses a proven digital hash (SHA3) packaged with a large amount of MAC (Multiply-and-Accumulate) computation into a Proof-of-Work puzzle,” the proposal adds. “Although Heavyhash can be computed on any standard digital hardware, it becomes hardware efficient only when a small digital core is combined with a low-power photonic co-processor for performing MAC operations.” Likewise, the OPOW mining rigs would be equipped with a “small digital core flip-chipped onto a large, low-power photonic chip.”

The solution Dubrovsky and the Powx team created has been discussed in the past and so far, it hasn’t gained much traction. Further not everyone agreed with Dubrovsky’s recent tweet and one individual said: “Wasting chips is also bad for the environment.” However, Bogdan Penkovsky, a “researcher in brain-inspired/neuromorphic computing,” disagreed with the individual’s wasting chips response.

“Accelerating development of low-energy computing can be hardly called a waste,” Penkovsky replied. “This technology has potential to drastically reduce data centers energy use in the future,” the researcher who co-authored the “Optical Proof-of-Work” paper added.

What do you think about the Powx project and Michael Dubrovsky’s recent tweet? Let us know what you think about this subject in the comments section below.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Custodial Lightning Network Service Attack Discovered by LN ‘Newbie’ — Hacker Strikes 6 LN Custodians

On September 18, a Redditor posted to the r/bitcoin forum and explained how he discovered a way to “attack [the] lightning Network’s custodial services.” The Reddit account dubbed “Reckless Satoshi” wanted to figure out if a “discrepancy between real routing fees and service’s transaction fee can be exploited for a profit.” The researcher disclosed that he wanted to see how large the damage could be and said “it is bad.” 6 Lightning Network Custodial Services Attacked, Researcher Discloses Findings to Offenders Prior to Public Disclosure A Redditor called Reckless Satoshi published a disclosure post on r/bitcoin this past Saturday and disclosed how he had found a vulnerability with routing fees and some of the Lightning Network’s custodial services. The research attack was done in good faith and after it was complete he disclosed the bugs to the offending services before publishing his findings. Reckless Satoshi used the Lightning Network (LN) attack on six different services incl...
Post a Comment
Read more

Axie Infinity Down 40% Since Last Week’s Price High, Protocol Revenue Outshines Competitors

Last week, the game token leveraged within the Axie Infinity gaming universe skyrocketed to all-time highs, while other crypto markets remained extremely lackluster. During the last seven days, Axie Infinity’s platform token has dropped significantly in value shedding more than 12%. Meanwhile, the game platform’s smooth love potion token has slid over 8% over the last 24 hours. Axie Infinity Down More Than 40% Since All-Time High Not too long ago, the axie infinity (AXS) token was a topical conversation because it reached an all-time high on July 15. At the time, AXS managed to capture $28.93 per unit and since then it has shed 12.8% during the last seven days. The axie infinity (AXS) token is used within the blockchain-based game that involves battles between token-based creatures called “Axies.” AXS is used for the game’s governance system as well as other actions within the game. At the time of writing axie infinity (AXS) is exchanging hands for $16.70 per coin. AXS/USD on Ju...
Post a Comment
Read more

Play-to-Earn Game From Polker (PKR) Exchange Listing – Endorsed by Akon

The Play-to-Earn NFT based Polker.Game ‘s native token $PKR has been officially listed on the popular centralized exchange BitMart. Polker.game has been in the spotlight recently as Akon, the American R&B superstar and record producer gave his official endorsement of polker stating that the “game is revolutionary” and that Polker is “hands down.. the best play to earn, NFT game in the space.”. With the BitMart listing and celebrity endorsement from Akon, Polker is perfectly positioned to become a major player in the Play-to-Earn league. Watch Akon’s Video Here What is Play-to-Earn? Although not a new concept, play-to-earn has become a trending term due to the popularity of the NFT game AXIE infinity. In the past, previous play-to-earn games have also achieved success – however, thanks to the huge amount of development in the blockchain space in recent years the gaming experience is now massively improved. Play-to-Earn games are essentially free to play and open to anyone and...
Post a Comment
Read more

China to Crack Down on Copyright Infringement Through NFTs

Authorities in China are going after creators of digital collectibles based on other people’s works of art, the use of which was not authorized. The government offensive is part of a campaign to combat online copyright infringement and piracy with the participation of several departments. Regulators in China Move to Strengthen Copyright Supervision of Online Platforms The National Copyright Administration of China (NCAC) has recently launched a campaign against copyright infringement and piracy on the internet, together with the Ministry of Industry and Information Technology, the Ministry of Public Security, and the State Internet Information Office of the People’s Republic. A major objective of the initiative is to improve copyright supervision of online businesses by investigating cases involving the sale and distribution of infringing products on short video, live broadcast and e-commerce platforms, and promptly dealing with infringing content, the agency announced in a press r...
Post a Comment
Read more
Blogarama - Blog Directory