In a new and unpopular prediction, Ryan Selkis, the CEO of crypto analytics firm Messari, said that Ethereum’s transition from a proof-of-work (PoW) to a proof-of-stake (PoS) consensus algorithm will not take place until the year 2021.
Selkis made his prediction during a panel titled “The Smart Contract War Is Coming,” at ConsenSys’ Ethereal Summit on May 10.
PoS Systems Pose Serious Risks
According to Selkis, Ethereum’s migration from a PoW to a PoS consensus algorithm comes with serious risks, and he argues that PoS systems “are not proven to work.” He emphasizes that the PoW algorithm has already proven itself over the last decade with Bitcoin (BTC) as well as Ethereum, since it’s inception in 2015.
Adding to this, Messari’s CEO said that Ethereum’s PoS algorithm is pretty good and probably already good enough.
This belief is contrary to what’s commonly discussed, as the Ethereum blockchain’s transition from PoW to PoS is intended to bring more scalability, security, and economic efficiency to the network, not to mention being far more energy efficient than PoW.
However, Selkis estimates that the PoW algorithm will still be the standard for at least 2 or 3 more years, and that Ethereum’s PoS transition will take longer than most people anticipate.
“I don’t expect Proof-of-Stake and Ethereum 2.0 to happen before the end of 2021 at the earliest.”
Moreover, as previously reported by IIB, the Ethereum research and development company Prysmatic Labs has released an Ethereum 2.0 testnet with PoS capabilities on May 7. So maybe Ethereum’s transition to a PoS algorithm will be faster than what Selkis thinks.
Do you think a PoS algorithm is better than PoW? Also, will Ethereum transition to this new consensus algorithm by the end of 2021 or earlier or later? Let us know what you think in the comment section below.
