Cardano Aiming to Overcome Limitations of PoW With PoS

2018-7-16 17:19

The Cardano blockchain comes with an innovative Proof of Stake protocol known as Ouroboros. The new blockchain transaction verification system’s details were first revealed in a research paper released by IOHK founder and CEO Charles Hoskinson in April. The company claimed that that new sophisticated Proof of Stake (PoS) aims to: “overcome scalability, efficiency, and composability limitations of the proof-of-work paradigm, which underlies the security of several mainstream cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin.”

Charles Hoskinson Reveals the Details

In a tweet dated April 26, 2018, Charles Hoskinson focused on the importance of Ouroboros. He wrote:

“Of all the papers IOHK Research has written, this one is the most significant. It’s a major advancement for Proof of Stake https://t.co/QNIPonatF6 now PoS has nearly identical properties to PoW. https://t.co/zAP7dSxR3y Welcome to the age of Ouroboros Genesis.”

Hoskinson pointed out that the new mechanism will provide more power efficiency as well as security. He wrote:

“Yeah, we don’t have to use more power than the country of Ireland to have our system run. I didn’t want to copy that one.”

He also suggested that Bitcoin’s extreme power consumption could be magnified multifold as billions of users adopt the platform.

What Does PoS Improve?

The Proof of Work concept is used for verifying transactions on the Bitcoin blockchain. PoS comes as an alternative to PoW. It gives users a vote or a stake on the network. This helps in accruing interest in the network in the form of newly minted tokens.

Because of this system, a user becomes an active member of the network. It also helps in reducing power consumption in the network.

As interest in cryptocurrencies is growing rapidly, a global populace using a large blockchain would want a lighter and more power-efficient system like PoS.

The research paper stated:

“Proof-of-stake-based (in short, PoS-based) blockchains aim to overcome scalability, efficiency, and composability limitations of the proof-of-work paradigm, which underlies the security of several mainstream cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin.”

Is PoS Really Better Than PoW?

The problem with Proof of Stake is that the concept is not fully proven yet. PoW remains the most popular verification method to date.

The Bitcoin blockchain, as compared to Cardano and its native coin ADA, has been around for longer. It has been subject to more tests, which proves its dominance as a secure consensus and transaction method.

Ouroboros is newer and hasn’t gone through enough trials to be compared to Bitcoin’s PoW yet. However, IOHK is confident that their network can represent a more robust transaction verification method.

One interesting thing to note about the blockchain is its interest in bringing the scientific rigor of academics to their organization. Hoskinson and his team from IOHK, previously, visited the Google HQ in London in June and answered questions from Googlers and provided them with insights about distributed ledgers.

Cardano Aiming to Overcome Limitations of PoW With PoS was originally found on [blokt] - Blockchain, Bitcoin & Cryptocurrency News.

Similar to Notcoin - TapSwap on Solana Airdrops In 2024

origin »