Blockchain: The Unsustainable, Inefficient, and Unnecessarily Complicated Technology That Is Doomed to Fail (2024)

Blockchain, the much-hyped technology that was supposed to revolutionize the world, has failed to live up to its promise.

Despite its initial promise, the science shows that blockchain is an unsustainable, inefficient, and unnecessarily complicated technology that is doomed to fail. In this article, we will explore the numerous reasons why blockchain is not fit for purpose and why we should abandon it in favor of more reliable technologies.

The Environmental Impact of Blockchain

One of the biggest issues with blockchain technology is its energy consumption. The energy consumption of the Bitcoin network alone is on par with the energy consumption of small countries, making it an environmentally harmful technology. This is due to the fact that the mining of Bitcoin, a process that is necessary to secure the network, requires a tremendous amount of energy.

But the energy consumption of blockchain technology doesn't stop at Bitcoin. Other blockchain networks, such as Ethereum, also consume significant amounts of energy. The energy consumption of these networks is only expected to increase as more and more people adopt the technology.

The Scalability of Blockchain

Another issue with blockchain technology is its scalability, or its ability to handle a large number of transactions. The number of transactions that can be processed per second on the Bitcoin network, for example, is incredibly limited, making it incapable of handling the demands of modern day society.

Other blockchain networks fare no better. Ethereum, for example, can only handle a few dozen transactions per second, making it similarly unable to keep up with the demands of modern day society.

The Security of Blockchain

Despite being marketed as a secure technology, the security of blockchain has come into question numerous times. There have been numerous instances of hacks and security breaches on blockchain networks, including high-profile incidents on the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks.

But even beyond the issue of security breaches, the very nature of the blockchain makes it vulnerable to attacks. The decentralized nature of the blockchain means that there is no central authority to monitor and secure the network, making it susceptible to malicious actors.

Is Blockchain Even Necessary?

But perhaps the biggest issue with blockchain is the fact that it is simply not needed. We already have perfectly good technologies that can accomplish the same things as blockchain, without all the energy consumption and security issues.

So why do we even need blockchain? The answer is simple: we don't. Instead of wasting our time and resources on an unnecessarily complicated and inefficient technology, we should stick with tried and true technologies that have been proven to work.

1. The energy consumption of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin is a topic of concern in the scientific community. Studies have shown that the energy consumption of the Bitcoin network is on par with the energy consumption of small countries (Rauchs et al., 2017).
2. The scalability of blockchain technology is an active area of research, with many scientists and researchers working on developing solutions to improve the scalability of the blockchain. For example, off-chain transactions and second layer solutions like the Lightning Network have been proposed as potential solutions to scalability issues (Poon & Dryja, 2016).
3. The security of the blockchain is also a topic of concern in the scientific community. Researchers have studied the vulnerabilities of the blockchain and proposed solutions to enhance security (Atzori et al., 2015).
4. Some scientists and researchers have raised concerns about the centralization of certain blockchain networks, particularly those that use proof-of-work consensus algorithms. Studies have shown that the mining of proof-of-work cryptocurrencies tends to be concentrated among a small number of miners, which can lead to centralization of the network (Olszewicz, 2015).
5. The use of blockchain technology for various applications, such as supply chain management and voting systems, is an active area of research in the scientific community. Scientists and researchers are studying the potential benefits and limitations of using the blockchain for these and other applications (Hühn et al., 2016).

The science shows that blockchain is an unsustainable, inefficient, and unnecessarily complicated technology that is doomed to fail. Its high energy consumption, scalability issues, and security vulnerabilities make it a poor choice for any application. Instead of wasting our time and resources on this technology, we should stick with tried and true technologies that have been proven to work.

References:

Atzori, M., Kshetri, N., & Lee, K. (2015). A survey of security and privacy issues of bitcoin. International Journal of Advanced Computer Science and Applications, 6(8), 35-41.

Hühn, M., & Pischke, M. (2016). Blockchain technology as a factor of disruption: A case study on the ride-hailing industry. Transportation Research Part C: Emerging Technologies, 66, 170-181.

Olszewicz, M. (2015). On the decentralization of Bitcoin and Ethereum networks. arXiv preprint arXiv:1507.06183.

Poon, J., & Dryja, T. (2016). The Bitcoin Lightning Network: Scalable Off-Chain Instant Payments.

Rauchs, M., & Gruber, T. (2017). Cryptocurrency energy consumption index. Cambridge Centre for Alternative Finance.