Ranked sixth among the top 10 technological breakthroughs of 2022, the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) views Ethereum’s proof of stake (PoS) consensus mechanism as a game-changer that will prompt the adoption of energy-saving technology.
Per the announcement:
“Proof of stake offers a way to set up such a network without requiring so much energy. And if all goes as planned, Ethereum, which runs all sorts of applications in addition to the world’s second-largest cryptocurrency, will transition to it in the first half of 2022. The shift has been projected to cut energy use by 99.95%.”
The MIT suggestes that Ethereum’s PoS framework would be instrumental in changing the narrative about cryptocurrencies using vast amounts of electricity. For instance, Bitcoin (BTC) used more energy than Finland last year.
Ethereum 2.0, recently renamed to the consensus layer, was launched in December 2020 to transition a PoS framework from the current proof of work (PoW) consensus algorithm.
Since then, it has gained steam as more investments continue trickling in, given that the number of validators recently hit 300,000 and staked Ether crossed the 9.5 million mark.
With “The Merge” slated for the second quarter of this year, MIT noted that Ethereum’s transition would become the centre stage of triggering energy-efficient technology even though other networks like Solana, Cardano, and Algorand are already using PoS blockchains.
The report noted:
“With proof of stake, validators don’t have to vie against one another, spending big on energy and computing hardware. Instead, their cache, or stake, of cryptocurrency allows them to enter a lottery. Those who are chosen to gain the authority to verify a set of transactions (and so earn more cryptocurrency).”
The other top ten breakthrough technologies included Covid variant tracking, a long-lasting grid battery, artificial intelligence (AI) for protein folding, and malaria vaccine, per the MIT Review.
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