Charles Hoskinson Makes Bullish Prediction For Bitcoin’s (BTC) Future And Calls For Halt On Mining

Charles Hoskinson, the Co-Founder and CEO of IOG, the blockchain technology firm behind Cardano, has given his hot take on the future of Bitcoin and why mining needs to stop on the network.

Hoskinson’s Bitcoin Prediction

In a YouTube session posted on October 3rd, titled “Bitcoin is Digital Gold. Let’s talk about the Mine,” Hoskinson agreed that Bitcoin (BTC) is, in fact, digital gold, and that the world’s largest crypto has real utility.

Hoskinson posited that Bitcoin’s use outside of the main chain will only continue to increase, and put forth his belief that, within the next five years, Bitcoin will be adopted for use by all decentralized applications (dApps), smart contracts, and even nation-states.

Why Bitcoin Needs to Cease Mining

Although Hoskinson agrees with Bitcoin’s utility and monetary policies, he argues that mining must stop on the network, underlining that Bitcoin mining operations consume a “humongous” amount of power.

With less than 2 million BTCs left to be mined, Hoskinson asserts that it simply isn’t a good investment to allow BTC mining to continue over the next 100 years. There are currently 19.168 million bitcoins in circulation of a possible 21 million bitcoins.

In addition to pushing for an end to BTC mining, Hoskinson suggested that all bitcoin currently in circulation be converted to wrapped bitcoins (wBTC ), which operates on smart contracts platforms such as Ethereum and Cardano. 

On the Flipside

• While miners receive diminishing returns on mining operations, Hoskinson’s plan would mean that the remaining 1.832 million bitcoins that have yet to be mined would never be recovered.

Why You Should Care

Hoskinson’s suggestions could potentially reduce criticism surrounding Bitcoin’s energy usage, and subsequently increase its adoption. However, the question of what would happen to the lost BTC remains.

The power consumption of Bitcoin has led to new laws. Read in:
U.S. Lawmakers Look to Limit Energy Use of Crypto Mining Firms

Read about Cardano’s power usage in:
Cardano (ADA) Is More Energy Efficient than YouTube, PayPal, and Netflix