Following Ethereum’s upgrade from Proof-of-Work to the Proof-of-Stake consensus mechanism, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor opined that Bitcoin gained vigor from the merge. He grounded his claim on the premise that Proof-of-Work remains the generally sufferable womb for birthing cryptocurrencies.
Michael Saylor Affirms Bitcoin Is Stronger
September 15 saw Ethereum progressively transition to Proof-of-Stake from Proof-of-Work. The merge moved the coin from its initial mainnet to the Beacon chain. Beforehand, it operated alongside Bitcoin on the PoW layer.
However, the upgrade became the talk of the entire crypto industry even after its successful completion. Several analysts, including traditional finance community members, shared their opinions of what Ethereum’s merge could mean to the space. And also, what it could incur on the coin.
Now that the upgrade is complete, some analysts are comparing Ethereum to Bitcoin. One of them is Michael Saylor, the current CEO of MicroStrategy. In his thesis, he stated that the merge only made Bitcoin stronger.
He declared his bias during a conference call with Australia via Skype. According to him, Proof-of-Work is the all-around acknowledged mechanism for a crypto asset to run on. Otherwise, it will be considered more of a security than a commodity.
Gary Gensler, Security Exchange Commission Chairman, agreed with Michael Saylor on that note. In line with the Howey test, he said that Ethereum’s switch to PoS makes it a security.
Proof-of-Work Versus Proof-of-Stake
Bitcoin is now worth ninety-five percent of all digital assets built on Proof-of-Work. Meanwhile, PoW got bashed by various entities over its excessive energy consumption. Recently, the US government deliberated on a proposal to ban Bitcoin mining or any crypto asset mining.
On the other hand, Proof-of-Stake requires lesser energy consumption. Estimation of its energy usage revealed a drop of 99.5 percent compared to its counterpart. So, Ethereum now uses 99.5 percent less power than it did on Proof-of-Work.
Regardless, Michael Saylor infers Bitcoin mining benefits industrial energy. He implied that it is the most productive and fairest electricity usage. Furthermore, it improves its sustainability and scalability as a reliable, energy-efficient asset.
Also, with BTC, miners could profit from methane or natural gas.
Bitcoin And Ethereum’s Price Momentum Since The Merge
Bitcoin displayed resilience against the general sentiment that Ethereum will overhaul it after its upgrade. Some individuals thought the merge would explode ETH on the market to top BTC as the leading digital asset. Interestingly, it has since slumped, sending its price to $1,430.
Meanwhile, Bitcoin expanded to the upside to trade at $19,958 at press time. BTC went up one percent above its mark price upon the merge. It continues showing strength compared to ETH.
Despite opposing beliefs on both coins, Bitcoin retains its number one position on CoinMarketCap.
To crown Michael Saylor’s endorsement of Bitcoin, he recently included it in his company’s balance sheet. Shortly back, his firm sold MSTR stocks worth five hundred million dollars and invested all that money in BTC. MicroStrategy has 129,699 Bitcoins in its custody at present.
