Will Ethereum Moving To PoS Spark Another Ugly Split In Bitcoin?

Pierre Rochard, a Bitcoin strategist at Kraken and co-founder at Satoshi Nakamoto Institute, sparked an interesting debate on Twitter on a potential tiff emerging in the Bitcoin community. According to Rochard, Ethereum's transition from proof-of-work (PoW) to proof-of-stake (PoS) may trigger a potential future conflict in the Bitcoin community.

“When Ethereum switches from proof-of-work mining to proof-of-stake, they're going to push the ”green“ anti-Bitcoin narrative *hard*. It's going to be well funded and highly coordinated. If you thought the 2017 scaling debate was ugly, this is going to be much, much nastier.”

What Is Rochard On About？

Right now, both Bitcoin and Ethereum utilize the PoW consensus algorithm for maintaining the overall network. In PoW, you use your computer resources to solve cryptographically challenging puzzles. If successful, you get to add your block to the main blockchain and receive a block reward. While this process is highly secure, it can be expensive and highly wasteful. In fact, the Bitcoin network consumes more energy than the country of Austria!

Ethereum Moving To PoS

The proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism turns this entire mining process virtual. In this situation, a user's hash power is directly related to the size of their stake or coin age, instead of the amount of mining equipment they have. This PoS integration is one of the main talking points of the ETH 2.0 transition. So, will a successful transition spark an ugly debate in the Bitcoin ecosystem between pro-PoW and anti-PoW？

Reactions To The Rochard Tweet？

Agent HODL:

“The clash has to come. It is inevitable. Sometimes I think we are trying to battle on too many fronts. Focus on the big picture - focus on the legacy system - leave the kids to play in their sandbox IMO.”

Mark Moss:

“I agree, climate science is going to be used to push all types of Agendas and probably the biggest attack vector against Bitcoin. The community needs to go on the offensive, flip the script to how GOOD it is for the environment. I guess I will start... stand by…”

Eric Martindale [₿]:

“Ethereum will fork over this, leaving those powermonger types behind on the weaker, more vulnerable chain. If they even get there, that is — the design wouldn't survive an honest review.”

Pierre Rochard:

“We'll see bitcoiners come out in favor of proof-of-stake hardfork, maybe some of the new institutional adopters who want to ”earn staking rewards“ on their hoard.”