A letter by a gaggle of Democratic members of the US Congress attacking proof-of-work (PoW) mining and praising proof-of-stake (PoS) is inflicting an uproar within the Bitcoin (BTC) neighborhood, with crypto trade Kraken CEO Jesse Powell claiming that “PoS fanatics attacking PoW are precise supervillains.”
Within the letter, Congressman Jared Huffman described PoW mining, which Bitcoin is predicated on, as one thing that’s “poisoning our communities,” and contributing to “air, water, and noise air pollution.”
Amongst different notable claims within the letter, Huffman wrote that “a single Bitcoin transaction may energy the typical U.S. family for a month.” He additionally claimed that “Bitcoin produces yearly carbon emissions corresponding to Greece,” and stated PoS is an “out there” choice that has “99.99 % decrease power calls for.”
Huffman is a Democrat from California who leads the Home of Representatives’ Pure Assets Committee. He was joined by 22 different Democratic members of Congress, together with the well-known crypto-critic Brad Sherman and democratic socialist Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, higher generally known as AOC.
The members of the Bitcoin and crypto neighborhood had been fast to touch upon the letter by way of Twitter, declaring a number of false and deceptive statements in it.
Among the many most outspoken critics was Kraken’s Jesse Powell, who stated that he thinks he is aware of “who paid for this rubbish,” whereas including “I can solely conclude malice as a result of I do know they don’t seem to be this dumb.”
Kraken’s CEO stated of the comparability between PoW and PoS that,
“Recreation is not zero-sum. Power is fungible. Some issues price extra power as a result of they’re higher. My laptop computer sucks extra juice than my calculator for a cause. Each are good and might co-exist. They aren’t interchangeable.”
Equally, Nic Carter, co-founder of Coin Metrics and Normal Accomplice at Fortress Island Ventures, argued that the letter was filled with false statements.
“[E]verything in your letter is mistaken. Actually, nearly each single declare,” he stated in a tweet to Congressman Huffman, earlier than including that the letter is predicated on “propaganda that your workers is just too thick to see by way of.”
Lastly, the favored Twitter consumer Adam O of Bitcoin mining tools provider Upstream Information additionally commented, saying that he and plenty of different miners “are risking their capital in an effort to mitigate emissions.”
“You need to perhaps do extra analysis,” the favored Bitcoin miner urged.
