You're overegging the Bitcoin energy story James. I don't consider myself a Bitcoin hornet, but come on! It doesn't take much thought to realise that the conventional force-based currencies (...and commodity stores of value like gold) have huge costs both environmental and human that dwarf Bitcoin's energy draw (...which of course has a substantial renewable component already, particularly in China's wet season).
Can and should Bitcoin improve in this regard? Absolutely, and it will, because there is a massive cost incentive for miners to use cheap energy, and that is definitely going to be hydro and solar in the end.
All these other proof-of-X systems are entirely unproven and on analysis are bound to be weaker than proof-of-work, which irrefutably anchors intangible digital scarcity value to an easy to prove and impossible to fake real world cost. That in a nutshell is the genius of Bitcoin and it will be very difficult for any competitor to outdo it. Someone might get one of the proof-of-X schemes off the ground one day, but for example if Elon decides to work on Doge, however good a coder Elon is and however much he improves the coin he chooses, it will be just another centralised ego coin joining a long list of such.
No. For store of value purposes, reliability, predictability and decentralisation are all required, exactly what Bitcoin delivers. Take away decentralisation and the coin is too vulnerable to attack.
You're overegging the Bitcoin energy story James. I don't consider myself a Bitcoin hornet, but come on! It doesn't take much thought to realise that the conventional force-based currencies (...and commodity stores of value like gold) have huge costs both environmental and human that dwarf Bitcoin's energy draw (...which of course has a substantial renewable component already, particularly in China's wet season).
Can and should Bitcoin improve in this regard? Absolutely, and it will, because there is a massive cost incentive for miners to use cheap energy, and that is definitely going to be hydro and solar in the end.
All these other proof-of-X systems are entirely unproven and on analysis are bound to be weaker than proof-of-work, which irrefutably anchors intangible digital scarcity value to an easy to prove and impossible to fake real world cost. That in a nutshell is the genius of Bitcoin and it will be very difficult for any competitor to outdo it. Someone might get one of the proof-of-X schemes off the ground one day, but for example if Elon decides to work on Doge, however good a coder Elon is and however much he improves the coin he chooses, it will be just another centralised ego coin joining a long list of such.
No. For store of value purposes, reliability, predictability and decentralisation are all required, exactly what Bitcoin delivers. Take away decentralisation and the coin is too vulnerable to attack.