In this article, we took opinions from important persons in the field of Bitcoin, to provide a full view on why proof of work is so important for Bitcoin and for its freedom and independence.
Hard money inherently requires an unavoidable production cost; proof of work is fundamental. People value gold as hard money, because it is scarce. and the scarcity inherently means there must be a production cost for more units. so it is with, digital gold requires PoW.
Adam Back
Adam Back explains in a very good and effective way the correlation between scarcity and PoW. Because Bitcoin is scarce, it needs productions costs to be and stay hard money.
Infact if an asset is cheap and easy to produce (like fiat money for example), then the market can be easily flooded with new supply and new supply again, with inflation. And in this way it becomes soft money with decreasing value.
Subsidy goes to zero without any fork. PoW ensures that new coin is produced at market price (not price inflationary), but it is incorrect to assume that this is its sole function. PoW in a competitive fee market is the basis of censorship resistance.
Erik Voskull
A money system (like Bitcoin) then requires PoW to work, otherwise it would be simply fiat wit a diffent name. This is what happens infact with shitcoins which are exactly as fiat, centrally controlled by third party companies and even easier to inflate.
Bitcoin self-sovereignty, modern freeman, a positive message of hope for humanity, economic growth, power abundance paid for by private enterprise via economic incentives. separate money from state.
Adam Back
What we get from all these opinions is that we dont need a different consensus mechanism. PoW is necessary, not only for the security of the network but also as the way for Bitcoin to create scarcity. By a energy point of view PoW is becoming more and more efficient by using green powers, more sophisticated hardware and by optimizing resources according to game theory which the PoW is based on.
