University of Sharjah’s Dr. Alia Sadawi tears into ‘elitist’ proof of stake on CoinGeek Backstage

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Blockchain projects have turned to proof of stake (PoS) as their consensus mechanism in recent times, with energy efficiency and scaling among the main benefits they erroneously tout. Even existing blockchain networks led by Ethereum are either actively transitioning from proof of work (PoW) or considering it. But as Dr. Alia Sadawi told CoinGeek Backstage, PoS is just an elitist mechanism that will wrestle control of a blockchain network from the majority and hand it to the wealthy few who can afford to stake millions of dollars.

Dr. Sadawi is a Ph.D. researcher at the University of Sharjah with a particular interest in blockchain technology. Speaking to CoinGeek’s Sarah Higgs on the sidelines of the IEEE UAE Blockchain Symposium held in Dubai, she talked about her interest in BSV blockchain, why we must fight for proof of work, Dr. Craig Wright, and the UAE’s spirited blockchain adoption.

For Dr. Sadawi, Dr. Craig Wright’s presentation was the highlight of the event. She told CoinGeek Backstage: “It’s very good to see Dr. Wright in person. I’ve been following his work, and knowing that he’s in Dubai, it was a great opportunity [to meet him].”

During Dr. Wright’s presentation, Dr. Sadawi asked his opinion on proof of stake as a consensus mechanism and his insight on why proof of work is the only mechanism that works in a truly decentralized system. 

“I wanted to see his insight about that, because in my opinion, PoS jeopardizes the idea of a decentralized and fair network and fortunately, he agrees with me. When you’re moving to proof of stake, you’re making rich people richer and enabling those who can afford to stake to control the network,” she stated.

“So we’re having the name blockchain, but in essence we’re going back to centralized networks,” Dr. Sadawi added.

As Higgs observed, “Craig isn’t a fan of proof of stake either.”

Indeed, Dr. Wright has spoken out on several occasions against PoS. In his most recent paper, aptly titled ‘Decentralisation,’ the nChain chief scientist tore into PoS, describing it as “a means of reintroducing ownership and equity control through a back-door creation of a digital bearer share.” He believes that tokens native to proof of stake networks are securities.

Dr. Wright debunked the myth that PoS networks scale more than their PoW counterparts, pointing out that the only way to scale a blockchain network is by raising its aggregate capacity to process transactions, regardless of the consensus mechanism. After all, the BSV enterprise blockchain is today’s most scalable blockchain network, yet it has stayed true to Satoshi’s vision of a PoW network that scales unbounded.

“In producing arguments related to scale and associating these with changes to the consensus mechanism, those individuals seek to mislead regulators and others who are less technically knowledgeable,” Satoshi noted in his paper.

A blockchain developer herself, Dr. Sadawi told CoinGeek Backstage that she has been following up on BSV blockchain as she explores smart contracts. 

“I’m really eager to go through the documentation and see what are the tools provided by BSV for implementations other than the financial aspect, whether we can use it in healthcare, sustainability, supply chain logistics. I’m exploring that and it could be my blockchain for my next project,” she explained.

The BSV blockchain has proven itself in all these sectors and many more. In healthcare, EHR Data is creating a global patient record that will give people control over their healthcare data on the BSV network. In supply chain, UNISOT is championing a new era of a fully on-chain global supply chain where the end users can trace their products from production to their homes. Social media, gaming, data storage, online reviews, web monetization, and uptime monitoring—these are just a few of the sectors that Bitcoin SV now powers.

Dr. Sadawi concluded by talking about blockchain adoption in the UAE. The country is leading globally in national blockchain integration, and according to the researcher, “this is not a surprise…we are hopeful and we believe in the technology. We are believers.”

Watch: CoinGeek New York presentation, Increasing Footprints of BSV Blockchain in Middle East & South Asia