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“Useful” PoW never really took off (primecoin and riecoin were prime number discovery POW functions that did not sustain long term value).

it’s possible that general purpose and usable proof of work system might exist but I dont think we have found it.

I have always said knowledge of the silicon capability of SHA256 and the integrity of ECDSA is itself of immense value.

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I’m definitely not super knowledgeable in cryptography, from the outside, the integrity of BTC is what makes me a bitcoin maximalist when it comes to Crypto lol.

However, the high energy consumption as the tradeoff is definitely like the elephant in the room.

One way to think of it as energy spend on activism for integrity. Many governments, tyrants and thieves would stop at nothing to corrupt the integrity of the chain. By sacrificing energy we make it very difficult for them to do so. It is not the energy or work itself that is valuable, but the requirement that an adversary outwork in order to inflict a negative outcome.

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