Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin shared insights on the proof-of-stake and how Bitcoin could ever switch to it.
With the Ethereum Merge date approaching next week, the price of Ethereum is also gaining momentum. Alongside that, Ethereum's shift to PoS is leading crypto users to ask what is stopping Bitcoin from moving.
Such ideas have been rejected in the past, considering that the changes may see the blockchain face negative consequences. Buterin reiterated that Bitcoin can transition to PoS but dubbed it a "painful transition."
Bitcoin could switch to proof-of-stake if attacked: Vitalik Buterin
In an interview with Noah Smith, Vitalik Buterin shared his opinion on Bitcoin's proof-of-work consensus and its security.
Buterin said he is worried about the security of Bitcoin due to tworeasons.
He said Bitcoin fees may not be a credible factor to help BTC miners survive in the long run. He further said BTC fees might not be an attractive incentive for miners to secure the network in the long run which, according to Buterin, has the potential to become a multi-trillion dollar system. Buterin said:
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According to Buterin, the PoW consensus provides much less security per than proof-of-stake consensus.
He later illustrated the anomaly, giving an example of what a Bitcoin future would look like when there's $5 trillion of Bitcoin, but only $5 billion to execute a successful attack on the chain.
Buterin said that in such a case, the network will organically consider shifting to PoS. However, he labelled the said transition as "painful" for the network.
As The Merge is just a week away, Buterin's vision to see Ethereum shift to PoS is finally here. Of course, The Merge isn't without its own difficulties, with talk of an Ethereum Hard Fork remaining in the background.