There is competition in the world of technology; the field of cryptocurrencies has also matured into a highly zealous one. So much so, Ripple’s former CEO wants to change Bitcoin’s code.
Chirs Larsen along with climate activist group, Greenpeace and others are launching a “Change the Code, Not the Climate” campaign, per reports. This crusade is designed to push the Bitcoin community to alter the power-intensive means through which transactions are carried- which is already as much as Sweden. Larsen stated that Bitcoin power consumption in five years will be equivalent to Japan’s.
Bitcoin mining has remained one of the concerns highlighted by not only environmental groups but also prominent individuals like Elon Musk, and governments around the world. Chris Larsen has remained an active participant in this group advocating to move away from proof-of-work. Continuing on his quest, the executive chairman of Ripple alongside Greenpeace and others was reaching out to key people and corporations in hopes of compelling the leadership to agree to change the PoW.
Michael Brune, in charge of the campaign, stated,
“We are in this campaign for the long haul, but we are hoping — particularly since Bitcoin is now being financed by entities and individuals who care about climate change — that we can compel leadership to agree that this is a problem that needs to be addressed. Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, PayPal, Venmo, Fidelity — there are lots of companies we anticipate will be helpful to this effort.”
Crypto mining has been targeted around the world and in the U.S. many communities are growing increasingly frustrated hosting Bitcoin miners, adding to excessive noise and power consumption. This was a recurrent problem after China pushed out the miners from the country.
The leader of the cryptocurrencies or king coin as it is often referred to, Bitcoin, and its community may have to do something to solve this issue. As a competitor and leader of the altcoin, Ethereum moves from PoW to PoS, it should be a priority for Bitcoin to make changes in the way transactions are carried out.
Larsen called Bitcoin an outlier and noted,
“Now with Ethereum changing, Bitcoin really is the outlier. Some of the newer protocols — Solana, Cardano — are built on low energy”
Larsen who is a supporter of XRP and holds Bitcoin and Ether donated $5 million for the campaign, however, he did not believe that the digital asset will continue to receive favors from investors unless it changes.
Nevertheless, Larsen clarified that this campaign was not bringing down rival crypto.
“If I was concerned about Bitcoin as a competitor, probably the best thing I could do is let it continue on this path. This is just an unsustainable path,” Larsen said.
While the moto was to see “Bitcoin and Ethereum succeed,” pressure mounts on Bitcoin to keep up with the changes or fight the decentralization war.
However, Larsen clarified that, even though he represented Ripple, the organization had zero involvement in his crusade against Bitcoin. He stated,