Ripple’s Exec Campaign Has ‘Zero Chance’ of Forcing Bitcoin to Proof-of-Stake, But Brace for More Attacks

cryptonews.com:

It has almost become a populist truism that Bitcoin (BTC) is bad for the environment. By using proof-of-work (PoW) as its consensus mechanism, its entire network consumes a prodigious amount of energy, which at the moment is reportedly higher than the annual energy consumption in some countries. 

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen recently formed a campaign group to exploit such unflattering comparisons. Dubbed Change the Code Not the Climate, it seeks to pressure the Bitcoin community into contemplating a shift from proof-of-work to proof-of-stake (PoS), a less energy-intensive consensus mechanism.

However, while Ethereum (ETH) is in the often-delayed process of transitioning to PoS, most commentators within and without the Bitcoin community say that Larsen’s new campaign doesn’t have any realistic chance of precipitating a move away from PoW. Instead, they claim it functions as something more akin to a smear campaign intended to tarnish Bitcoin’s reputation for the benefit of rivals (Ripple-affiliated XRP is also trying to establish itself as a payment-friendly cryptocurrency), and that it will fade away fairly quickly.

Confirmed in a tweet by Chris Larsen on March 29, the Change the Code campaign finds the Ripple executive chairman teaming up with Greenpeace and the Environmental Campaign Group to run a series of ads in major publications and outlets. 

According to Larsen, they all have the aim of exerting pressure on Bitcoin and its community to see the ‘error of its ways,’ and ultimately, consider moving to PoS.

Sightings of Change the Code’s ads in the wild haven’t yet been confirmed online, yet the group’s website offers some examples of what it’s likely to be running, as shown below.

Speaking to Bloomberg, Larsen took the