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How Proof-Of-Work Is Useful Beyond Bitcoin

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Like many things, proof-of-work as a concept can be applied in one’s own life beyond the idea of bitcoin mining.

Author:

Mark Maraia[1]

Like many things, proof-of-work as a concept can be applied in one’s own life beyond the idea of bitcoin mining.

Anyone who has studied bitcoin for a while knows that proof-of-work in bitcoin mining is the key to the security and to the unforgeable nature of the protocol. Bitcoin mining in 2021 requires that miners use purpose-built computers [called ASIC’s] to convert real-world energy [more than 50% of which is renewable and stranded energy] into encrypted digital monetary energy.

By using this proof-of-work and following consensus rules, bitcoin miners (and node operators) secure this decentralized network one block at a time approximately every ten minutes. Some have even called it triple-entry bookkeeping. And the system is designed to work in a way that makes forgery, hacking, theft, cheating or double-spending coins all but impossible. One metaphor that is used to describe this is adding a block to the bitcoin timechain is like adding a floor to a skyscraper. To fully understand how this works is far beyond the scope of this article but the key design of this system requires the use of real-world energy so you can’t cheat or game the system. By contrast, Jay Powell at the Federal Reserve Board can increase the U.S. money supply by the trillions, with a few keystrokes.

I’ve served as a business relationship coach for over 30 years. To clients this meant I was an executive coach, their business development coach, their leadership coach, their time management coach or their performance coach. One of my dearest friends and colleagues David Lerner taught me an idea from his coach training that

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