Shortly
- Bitcoin boosters have branded Chris Larsen’s environmental proposal disingenuous.
- Many prominent Bitcoiners took to Twitter to express their displeasure.
Ripple’s billionaire co-founder Chris Larsen stirred up the crypto world on Tuesday with a call for Bitcoin to reduce its environmental impact. Working with Greenpeace and the Sierra Club, he is funding a $5 million campaign called “Change the Code not the Climate” to raise awareness of Bitcoin’s energy use.
The campaign’s stated goal is to persuade the scattered collection of people who run the Bitcoin network to replace its energy-intensive mining process with a “proof-of-stake” system that uses much less electricity and is powered by some other blockchains.
While Larsen presents his campaign as a potential feel-good moment, the reaction from many in the crypto community has been fierce. In particular, bitcoiners — who are already sensitive about their industry being unfairly singled out or exposed to misinformation — have been quick to denounce Larsen’s proposal, including longtime crypto expert Nic Carter, who has been credited with a “thumbs-down” meme “Gladiator.” reacted.
Meanwhile, the colorful founder of crypto research firm Messari, Ryan Selkis, has branded Larsen’s campaign disingenuous and suggested that his real motivation is to promote Ripple’s XRP native currency. In a tweet, Selkis called Larsen a “Judas” for making billions in the crypto markets but then dumped Bitcoin under the bus.
Jameson Lopp, a prominent bitcoin personality, also questioned the sincerity of Larsen’s campaign, noting that she failed to submit a proposal to the Github website, which people have used to suggest changes to the bitcoin code and implement.
A more surprising source of resistance came from Coin Center, a Washington, DC-based crypto research and advocacy group that typically stays out of intra-crypto disputes. The group’s communications director, Neeraj Agrawal, used his influential Twitter account to question Larsen’s motives.
Meanwhile, Coin Center Executive Director Jerry Brito pointed out that Larsen’s campaign was based on convincing 50 miners and developers to change Bitcoin’s code — a premise the story suggests may be entirely unrealistic .
Eric Voorhees, the founder of crypto company ShapeShift and an influential figure from the early days of Bitcoin, also suggested that Larsen’s call to change the code was impractical and doomed to fail. He said he had no qualms about the proof-of-stake in principle, noting that those who would be integral to the change — longtime Bitcoin fans — wouldn’t see it.
However, the opposition was not universal. Anatoly Yakovenko, the co-founder of another competing blockchain, Solana, responded to the objections of Muneeb Ali – another influential bitcoiner – by noting that no blockchain requires mining, also known as proof-of-work (POW), to be successful to be.
However, Yakovenko seemed to be in a small minority, especially as everyday bitcoin fans were heaping with criticism of Larsen’s proposal. Many of them responded with memes – Crypto’s method of communication – to accuse Ripple and Larsen of spreading “FUD” (Fear, Uncertainty, Doubt).
Larsen, meanwhile, appeared to anticipate his proposal would be met with hostility and apologized to Ripple’s communications team for any headache it might cause him.
Ultimately, bitcoiners’ vehement rejection of Larsen’s proposal suggests that a demand for a move to Proof-of-Stake would result in absolutely no change — other than widening the divide between Ripple and Bitcoin supporters.
Editor’s Note: A previous version of this story incorrectly identified Anatoly Yakovenko as Bitcoin author Andreas Antonopoulos.
The best of Decrypt straight to your inbox.
Get the daily curated top stories, weekly recaps and deep dives straight to your inbox.
