Benjamin von Wong, the Canadian artist responsible for the creation of Greenpeace’s “Satoshi’s Skull” online installation, has recently clarified that his artwork was never intended to be a direct attack on Bitcoin mining or its Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus algorithm.
Instead, von Wong explained on Twitter that his project was simply a hopeful expression of the possibility that Bitcoin could one day move away from the use of fossil fuels in its mining process, while retaining its essential features of safety, reliability, and decentralization.
As a committed environmentalist who has spent his career fighting for the reduction of hazardous waste emissions, von Wong saw Bitcoin mining as just another classic conflict between protecting nature and preventing man-made pollution.
However, after speaking with experts in the crypto industry, he has come to realize that Bitcoin’s blockchain technology has immense potential to become more environmentally friendly, without necessarily requiring a change to its algorithm.
In response to criticism from the crypto community, Rolf Skar, representing Greenpeace USA on Special Projects, clarified that the aim of “Satoshi’s Skull” was not to advocate for Bitcoin to switch to a different form of consensus algorithm like Proof-of-Stake (PoS).
Rather, the intention was to highlight the energy problem associated with PoW, and to encourage Bitcoin to catch up with newer cryptocurrencies that have already implemented more sustainable consensus mechanisms.
Since March 23, Greenpeace has been running an environmental campaign in the United States called “Change the code, not the climate,” which seeks to raise awareness about the carbon emissions produced by cryptocurrency mining.
As a symbol of this hazardous impact, the organization presented von Wong’s “Satoshi’s Skull” installation, which depicts a giant skull made of computer parts and cables.