Ethereum is planning on making a huge move to Proof of Stake.
Here is an explanation of how Casper, Ethereum's Proof of Stake algorithm, works with validators. There will be a part 2 explaining how the rules of Etheruem's Proof of Stake will work, and the implementations on Ethereum's future.
If you have any questions please comment below
If you want to learn more:
-Vitalik Buterin recent post about Casper and Proof of Stake:
https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/mi...
Great Overview about Proof of Stake, Ethereum mining, and Ethereum's Future:
https://www.ethnews.com/proof-of-stak...
Ivan's technical explanation of Casper, Ethereum's Proof of Stake:
( Ivan is coding Casper and knows it best)
Is not incompatible with distributed consensus. That's a fundamental in what the crypto world is about. But hey, it makes sense if you own a large portion of ETH and want to maintain it. https://download.wpsoftware.net/bitcoin/pos.pdf
Ya, I mean POS can solve a lot of problems of POW and the economics of slashing makes the system just as trusted. Thanks for sharing that link. I thought the concepts brought up in it are very interesting. Especially the sections about DMMS, which kinda sounds like a DPOS system.
What do you think about Ethereum using both POW and POS at TBD date? ( most likely at years end)
Also, do you think this will lead to a Hard Fork like Bitcoin Cash? Because that is where I am seeing this play out
I think the current system is ok, but I can understand why they want to pick PoS. Those in power will always choose self-preservation. It's why it made sense for Satoshi to leave BTC. It had to be fully decentralized. ETH is not like so. You have the developers really governing it like a company. And I agree, like you, that a split sounds imminent because they are playing with fundamentals. They could create a new chain that does PoS, but it's not about giving a new tool for humanity to use, it's about how to do it and stay rich. PoS does that for them. Hence, why I don't agree with it. They should have done that from the start, but it made no sense since they did not have network effect. With Bitcoin growing smart contract capabilities, I think ETH will end up another altcoin that almost made it.