Cardano IOG Introduces New Protocol to Reduce Energy Waste of Bitcoin and Other Proof-of-Work (PoW) Networks 

The IOG has introduced a new protocol to reduce PoW’s energy waste.

Cardano’s research and development company, Input Output Global (IOG), has introduced a new consensus protocol to reduce the energy waste of Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains. 

The protocol, dubbed Ofelimos, was introduced at the Cryptology conference by members of the IOG research team. According to the IOG, the research was jointly carried out by some of its members, including Matthias Fitzi, Aggelos Kiayas, Giorgios Panagiotakos, and Alexander Russel. 

“Today, at the leading international cryptology conference, Crypto, Input Output Global, Inc (IOG) introduces Ofelimos, a novel PoUW-based blockchain protocol whose consensus mechanism simultaneously realizes a decentralized optimization-problem solver,” IOG said. 

Ofelimos Features and Offerings

Ofelimos aims to transform PoW into a proof of useful work (PoUW) algorithm. This is mainly because the PoUW algorithm intends to solve the problem of energy efficiency. 

Notably, the new protocol introduced by the IOG will redirect the computational effort used to maintain blockchain security, as required in the PoW model, to solve other real-world problems. 

Some of the sectors Ofelimos aim to repurpose PoW computational efforts, including optimizing company logistics and event schedules. 

The IOG added that Ofelimos would tackle fraudulent miners’ behavior to direct the system to pose easily solvable problems or problems that have already been solved. 

Per IOG, Ofelimos will deploy provable security for high levels of corruption. 

“Ofelimos is only a first step towards provably secure and useful PoUW. Whereas the current work readily gives provable security for levels of high corruption, more research is still needed on the algorithmic side to provide suitable classes of optimization problems for which high usefulness can be provably demonstrated,” the IOG concluded. 

Rising Concerns Over High Energy Consumption of PoW Networks

The massive energy consumption of PoW blockchains, especially Bitcoin, has been a major topic of discussion worldwide. 

Both regulators and various advocacy groups have expressed concerns about the carbon footprints caused by these PoW networks. 

Based on these concerns, a lot of research and funds have been channeled toward reducing PoW’s energy consumption. 

As reported by TheCryptoBasic, Ripple’s Chairman Chris Larsen set aside $5 million to sponsor a campaign that will force Bitcoin to change its code from PoW to a Proof-of-Stake algorithm due to energy concerns.

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