Since virtual currency consumes a large amount of electricity for mining, there is concern about its impact on global warming. Ethereum, one of Bitcoin’s biggest competitors, will launch a version-up. It significantly improves energy efficiency compared to the present. On the 18th, a researcher at the Ethereum Foundation, Karl Vikhuizen, announced a plan to convert Ethereum’s power consumption to a structure. It reduces power consumption by more than 99% through an official blog.
Researcher Vikhuizen said, “Ethereum is currently using the blockchain algorithm, the proof-of-work method. But this is the cause of increasing power consumption.” He estimates that there are 87,897 validators that are staking at home. And home stakers run an average of 5.4 validators based on their unique addresses. When switching to the PoS method, the power consumption of this home staker becomes 1.64MW. Exchanges and cryptocurrency services are also running 52,700 checkers, and they will consume 0.98 MW of PoS conversion. Combining the two, the PoS-based Ethereum consumes 2.62MW of power. It means that the existing power consumption can be reduced by 99.95%.
Until now, it points out that Ethereum consumes electricity at the level of a city or a country. But it is argued that when it is converted to a new structure, it consumes about 2100 households of electricity. In early 2021, as the prices of bitcoin and Ethereum rose, power consumption surged, but the PoS-based Ethereum, which was tested, can suppress the rise in power consumption to a certain level.
The power problem is inevitable when it comes to virtual currency operation. Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently pointed out the energy inefficiency of Bitcoin and announced that he will work with developers to improve the efficiency of Dogecoin’s trading system.