Ripple co-founder called a ‘Judas’ after call to move Bitcoin to PoS

Ripple co-founder Chris Larsen, in partnership with the Sierra Club, Greenpeace and other climate organisations, launched the campaign “Change the code, not the climate“. The campaign participants earmarked $5 million to secure a shift of Bitcoin from the Proof-of-Work algorithm to Proof-of-Stake (PoS), which provoked an angry response from the community.

Last year, I published an op-ed calling for Bitcoin to consider a move away from PoW to a low energy validation method. Today, I’d like to share an update on how my thinking has evolved on this front. https://t.co/8G3MKmiHYK

— Chris Larsen (@chrislarsensf) March 29, 2022

The funds will go to advertising in leading publications throughout April. The climate organisations mobilise millions of their members to work at the local level.

According to campaign director Michael Bruno, participants have spoken with a dozen key people and corporations, some of which are linked to Bitcoin and must adhere to ESG standards.

«We are playing for the long game. We expect to persuade that [mining] is a problem that needs solving. Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, PayPal, Venmo, Fidelity — there are many companies that, as we expect, will be useful in these efforts», Bruno explained.

Participants expect growing discontent among Americans at the rising noise from Bitcoin mining equipment in data centres amid the migration of miners from China. In their view, the community could agree to a hard fork or soft fork. To achieve this, it will be necessary to persuade around 50 key miners, developers and crypto exchanges.

According to Larsen, Bitcoin will lose investor support and remain an ‘outcast’ if it does not go down the Ethereum path. He cited that new blockchains such as Solana and Cardano also rely on Proof-of-Stake.

The market is driven by liquidity from traditional finance. The transition is a matter of time, as people ‘are not religious about technology’, added Larsen.

The Ripple co-founder stressed that the campaign is not aimed at toppling a rival to his project.

«If I were concerned with that, the best I could do would be not to interfere with Bitcoin remaining as it is. This is simply an unsustainable path», he explained.

The agency noted the difficulties in implementing Larsen’s backers’ plan. This includes years of code changes, as with Ethereum, a high degree of resistance from Bitcoin maximalists, and miners’ earnings, which in 2021 exceeded $15 billion.

«I would rate the probability at 0%, that Bitcoin will ever move to PoS. The community has no appetite for undermining the security of the protocol», said Chris Bendiksen, a researcher at CoinShares.

Larsen’s proposals sparked a firestorm of outrage on Twitter.

Castle Island Ventures co-founder Nick Carter expressed disagreement with Larsen’s position.

as a Bitcoin Node Operator and member of the Bitcoin High Priesthood that Controls the Protocol, I have duly considered Ripple’s and Greenpeace’s request to eliminate PoW from Bitcoin, and I hereby… deny it. pic.twitter.com/6QYziI2QYW

— nic ‘it’s over’ carter (@nic__carter) March 29, 2022

Messari founder Ryan Selkis described Larsen as a ‘Judas’ who promotes XRP. Earlier, the Ripple founder ‘made billions in crypto markets, but then threw Bitcoin under the bus’, he added.

Chris Larsen — who in a just society would be in jail for the bad faith investor misrepresentations he and his team made regarding their XRP sales — is spending money attacking the industry that created his ill gotten multi-billion dollar fortune. Judas.

— Ryan Selkis ? ?? (@twobitidiot) March 29, 2022

CTO Casa Jameson Lopp also questioned Larsen’s sincerity. He noted that he had not seen on Github his proposals for changing Bitcoin’s code.

Dear @bruneski @chrislarsensf @Greenpeace,

I am unable to find your Bitcoin Improvement Proposal submission, nor can I find any discussions initiated by you on the development mailing list.

Please follow the process if you wish to be taken seriously. https://t.co/pXJzYzq1Mj

— Jameson Lopp (@lopp) March 29, 2022

Larsen stressed that “Change the code, not the climate” is his own initiative. He apologised in advance to the Ripple team for any inconvenience.

Lastly, I want to emphasize that these efforts are mine alone. While I’m still Chairman of Ripple, the company is not involved in this campaign. (On that note, apologies to the Ripple comms team!)

— Chris Larsen (@chrislarsensf) March 29, 2022

In April, Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, expressed the view that the leading cryptocurrency needs to develop its technological base to improve energy efficiency. Otherwise, digital gold risks falling behind.

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