PoW can be thought of as a governance model that both incentivizes users to partake in maintaining the integrity of the network, and treats all users as equal.Įffectively, this a peer-to-peer system where transactions can occur without requiring verification from any outside source, which is why it’s often called a “trustless” payments platform. When a transaction is sent, a verification process enlists the help of network-connected devices. ETHEREUM CRYPTOCURRENCY JETTISON SPEEDIER PROOFOFSTAKE VERIFICATION These devices are operated by users that volunteer to temporarily donate their computer’s resources for the purpose of verifying transactions. These users are known as ‘miners,’ and their computers race to solve complex mathematical equations. These miners can then earn the transaction fee as a reward for their participation. Why scaling is a major issue for many cryptocurrencies Proponents of proof-of-work site numerous benefits with the protocol, such as its commitment to treating all miners as equal and its heightened level of security. However, currencies that employ PoW like Bitcoin and Ethereum face severe hurdles in achieving adoption. ETHEREUM CRYPTOCURRENCY JETTISON SPEEDIER PROOFOFSTAKE VERIFICATIONĪs more people use these currencies, they become slower due to network congestion.