Greg Ward on CoinGeek Weekly Livestream: Blockchain’s Environmental Impact, Immutable Logs, and Micropayments

In Episode 7 of Season 4 of the CoinGeek Weekly Livestream, Greg Ward
SmartLedger Solutions spoke with Kurt Wuckert Jr. about blockchain’s environmental impact, how immutable logs could change cybersecurity and the world, and many other BSV blockchain-related issues.

Blockchain’s impact on the environment

Ward is interested in the environmental impact of blockchain. He and the SmartLedger team compared its impact to Proof-of-Work (PoW) blockchains. He also explains why PoW chains need incentives and how Proof-of-Stake chains are vulnerable to Sybil attacks.

Satoshi reminded Ward that the nodes will be located in data centers. Peer-to-peer cash systems require scalability that allows early adopters to experience what they did with their laptops. BTC has created a narrative of digital gold and scarcity, but Ward wonders why we can’t have it and all the utility of BSV. Having all that utility would certainly further justify its impact on the environment.

BTC’s Serious Problems

Besides lack of utility, BTC is suffering from other serious problems. If prices don’t double with each halving, fees will have to go up, which will make the user experience more confusing. It’s already rising as the half-life approaches, confirming their theory in their minds, but this can’t last forever.

Wuckert highlights how stranded UTXOs become problematic as transaction fees rise. He pointed this out to some BTC employees, and they accused him of trying to shut them down or scare them. They are now talking about low fee days to integrate UTXOs.

Ward notes that subsidies are just that: subsidies. Transaction fees had to take over. However, with the Lightning Network and ETFs acting as layer 2 and starving miners of revenue, the much-publicized miner death spiral seems inevitable.

Wuckert uses a restaurant analogy. While luxury products may appeal to the middle class and wealthy in certain regions, McDonald’s (NASDAQ: MCD) has a more global appeal. BTC is similar to the former, and BSV is similar to the latter in this respect.

Ward notes the changing narrative of BTC over time. It started with anarchists fighting for decentralization, many of whom now
BlackRock and others believe this is because the fiat value of the coin has risen.

Logging systems and utilities

Wuckert says he was impressed by Dr. Craig Wright and his witnesses at the COPA v Wright trial, who talked about the benefits of immutable logs and how they helped businesses. COPA laughs because they don’t think these people understand blockchain and its purpose. Dr. Wright even used Certihash as an example of what he was trying to do at various banks.

As for Certihash, Ward says things are going well. They are recruiting new customers and everyone is learning as they integrate their systems with the BSV blockchain. For many clients, having an immutable log is a game changer. Certihash is one piece, but there are other pieces under development to handle the identity of resources for asset recovery.

In closing, Ward says everyone has value and assets under management (AUM), which he calls data. Bitcoin allows users to monetize their own data instead of allowing companies like Meta (NASDAQ: META) to make billions of dollars.

Wuckert agrees that micropayments make it practical to pay people small amounts for the first time. He believes that there is a risk that large players like Meta will start using it at some point or it will become obsolete. Drawing on his experience receiving monthly payouts from X, Wuckert says microtransactions lower the bar so everyone can become a creator and get paid for their valuable content.

See: Natural Resources, Sustainability, and Blockchain on CoinGeek Zurich

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