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CFTC Head Complains About Bitcoin’s Energy Use

Thu, 05/19/2022 - 06:06
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Alex Dovbnya
CFTC Chair Rostin Behnam believes that the industry should move to proof-of-stake in order to reduce power consumption
CFTC Head Complains About Bitcoin’s Energy Use
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Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) Chair Rostin Behnam bemoaned Bitcoin’s excessive energy consumption, Forbes reports.  

Bitcoin’s proof-of-work consensus algorithm requires a huge amount of energy in order to solve complex mathematical tasks. 

The regulator believes that the industry should move to proof-of-stake, an alternative consensus mechanism that consumes much less energy. 

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The CFTC head supports the idea of disclosing how much energy a certain cryptocurrency consumes. 

Behnam has noted that more developers are working on PoS projects amid growing concerns about Bitcoin's excessive energy consumption.    

As reported by U.Today, Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen recently launched a joint campaign with Greenpeace to urge Bitcoin developers to implement a code change that would reduce the cryptocurrency’s excessive power consumption. 

Behnam has also indicated that he intends to ramp up cryptocurrency oversight. 

He sounded the alarm over massive losses linked to protocol hacks, scams, and other types of attacks. 

The CFTC has taken more than 50 enforcement actions since 2015. 

Behman claims that he wants to make the cryptocurrency market more “transparent” and “resilient.” 

In February, the regulatory agency argued that speculative favor surrounding Bitcoin required great investment protections.

As reported by U.Today, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission has asked for a higher enforcement budget in order to be able to police the cryptocurrency industry in a more efficient way. 

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About the author

Alex Dovbnya (aka AlexMorris) is a cryptocurrency expert, trader and journalist with extensive experience of covering everything related to the burgeoning industry — from price analysis to Blockchain disruption. Alex authored more than 1,000 stories for U.Today, CryptoComes and other fintech media outlets. He’s particularly interested in regulatory trends around the globe that are shaping the future of digital assets, can be contacted at alex.dovbnya@u.today.