WebDollar move from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake

Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) are two consensus mechanisms that cryptocurrencies use to append blocks (that include transactions) to a blockchain.

What is Proof of Work?

Proof of Work is a consensus mechanism that uses processing power from a network of devices to compute and add new blocks. This is the original crypto consensus mechanism, popularized by Bitcoin, and still is the most common. The computing power is used mine or complete complex puzzles before creating and adding new block to the blockchain.

Proof of Work is supposed to be proven, robust as it is used by Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies for a long time.

But, when cryptocurrencies become popular and transactions demand is increasing, the network will grow and difficulty to complete puzzles will increase and will require a higher and higher amount of computing power, consuming a large amount of energy.

What is Proof of Stake?

Proof of Stake is another consensus mechanism, that requires much less computing power and energy to compute and add new blocks. All validators that own any amount of the token, can contribute or stake and create new blocks. The chance to create a block will increase with the staked amount.

Proof of stake was designed to be an alternative to Proof of Work, addressing energy consumption, environmental impact and scalability.

WebDollar transition from Proof of Work to Proof of Stake

At the beginning (from April 26th, 2018), WebDollar was designed to use a kind of Proof of Work mechanism and later a decision to transition to Proof of Stake was made.

This was done in several steps:

• a first step from 100% Proof of Work to 66% Proof of Stake / 33% Proof of Work, at block 567,810 (January 30th, 2019)
• a second step from 66% Proof of Stake / 33% Proof of Work to 90% Proof of Stake / 10% Proof of Work, at block 1,650,000 (July 29th, 2020)
• a last step from 90% Proof of Stake / 10% Proof of Work to 100% Proof of Stake, at block 2,348,110 (July 22nd, 2021)

Now, WebDollar is an environment-friendly cryptocurrency and anyone who owns WebDollars can participate and become a validator (eventually using the pool system).