Just another one of the little surprises (latency, instability) that comes along with Bitcoin. Unless a new technology bails it out, Btc creation may come to a halt, and a lot sooner than anyone had imagined.

Something that is rarely mentioned is the vast amounts of energy needed to mine cryptocurrencies. Electricity is powered largely by coal — especially in China — and there is no such thing as “clean coal.” The added stresses to the environment caused by crypto mining is often overshadowed by the discussions of profitability.

An alternative to mining exists. The Stellar network is solving the problem of transaction verification by means of a federated Byzantine agreement. No mining is required which cuts down on cost and latency. A transaction on the Stellar network costs a fraction of a cent and is verified in 3–5 seconds. The network currently can process up to 2,000 transactions per second and Stellar is constantly improving on that number.

Given the many advantages of the Stellar network, developers would be wise to consider building there. It’s cheap, fast, and operates without detrimental effects on the environment.

Full disclosure: I am the CEO of Monetran LLC, an internet fintech company. Among our developments is Moneda, an asset-backed, redeemable Stellar stable token. Further information can be found here.