While Proof-of-Work (PoW) has served as a pioneering consensus model, its downsides have become increasingly apparent as blockchain ecosystems scale. Here are some key reasons to move away from PoW:
PoW mining requires an immense amount of energy expenditure through computationally-intensive hashing algorithms. This comes with a massive carbon footprint that is antithetical to sustainability goals.
The economies of scale in PoW mean that mining power has become concentrated in the hands of a few major pools and farms. This raises centralization risks and potential attack vectors.
Ordinary users are priced out of PoW mining due to the substantial hardware and electricity costs involved. This limits participation to a relatively small pool of miners.
PoW chains like Bitcoin and Ethereum have reached bottlenecks in achieving the throughput required for scaling to billions of users and devices. Their blockchains get congested, leading to high fees.
Mining rewards on major PoW chains are disproportionately distributed, with the mining elite continually growing their stake at the expense of ordinary users. This concentrates power and wealth.
PoS presents a more egalitarian, decentralized, cost-effective, and sustainable alternative that can unlock blockchain's full potential for billions of participants worldwide.