The researchers said that not all those interested in cryptocurrencies are psychopaths, but measuring them through that approach allows understanding why they want to invest. According to Carnegie Mellon University, describing someone as having psychopathic traits because he makes risky investments could cause confusion and misunderstandings.

A group of researchers conducted a survey to determine whether people interested in cryptocurrencies have psychopathic, narcissistic or sadistic personality traits. Ninety percent of the 566 online respondents show those characteristics, which has aroused much controversy in the ecosystem.

Di Wang, Brett Martin, and Jun Yao, the marketing specialists in charge of the study, talked about those traits. They highlighted that not all those interested in cryptocurrencies have a psychopathic, narcissistic or sadistic attitude. However, they pointed out that measuring them through that approach allows a better understanding of why they want to buy crypto assets.

Analyzing the behavior of those people through the psychological lens of those mental disorders seems somewhat biased and careless. The truth is that those having those traits do not necessarily have psychological problems.

Minna Lyons, a research doctor from the psychology school of the University of Liverpool, referred to those traits as the dark tetrad. She explained that they are part of the daily behavior of humans and argued that they could even be beneficial. However, she said that they only caused problems if they interfered with self-control and caused people to harm others and themselves.

Although Bitcoin Traders Have Dark Tetrad Traits

According to Lyon, the traders of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may have psychopathic, narcissistic, or sadistic traits. She argued that they are normal in human beings, as long as they do not affect them or others.

Val-U firm CEO Andrés Urquiola commented that only people who are somewhat psychopathic would trade Bitcoin. He said they need to control their emotions to operate that crypto asset as it is high risk due to its price fluctuations. That characteristic is a strength instead of a weakness in this case and does not mean that they have a mental disorder.

The world of cryptocurrencies is not an isolated case, as there may be people with dark tetrad traits in different fields. Psychiatrist Lola Morón believes that executives, politicians, and other people holding high-responsibility positions can have them.

Professor Robert Hare, an expert in psychopathy at the University of British Columbia, agrees. He stated that they need the ability to withstand high-pressure environments without letting emotions and the interest in power, prestige and money carry them away. Carnegie Mellon University also identifies traders of traditional investments, such as the stock market.

However, describing someone as having psychopathic traits because they make risky investments or manage their emotions could be inappropriate. It could also cause confusion and misunderstandings, affecting the entire community and the owners of cryptocurrencies.

Bitcoin analyst Will Clemente believes that linking dark tetrad traits to cryptocurrency traders instills fear, uncertainty, and doubt. For that reason, he advises being careful about using mental disorder terms to describe people, although they share some similarities.

By Alexander Salazar

Switching from proof of work to proof of stake would mean reducing carbon footprint, among other things.

Currently, the Ethereum network and other Blockchains, such as the Bitcoin network itself, operate using the proof of work (PoW) consensus that demands computing power to solve the new blocks that are added to the chain. When Bitcoin began to operate on its own network, the decision seemed logical, since it was possible to mine blocks with a laptop without difficulty, but eventually, the power needed to solve the blocks rose so much that it has been a long time since it has only been possible to mine those blocks with specialized devices such as ASICs. Today, the need to change the consensus mechanism is more pressing due to several factors, such as the carbon footprint.

About Ethereum

Ethereum is the second most used network in the Blockchain sector and its innovation was the introduction of smart contracts. This network also operates in PoW but the arrival of version 2.0 of the network has long been expected to replace this consensus mechanism with proof of stake (PoS), in which it is possible to validate the blocks based on the coins that are staked. In this format, it is not necessary for so much computing power to validate the blocks.

However, due to the revaluation of ether in recent years, the cost of transactions has risen greatly and it is common to have to pay tens of dollars to send an NFT to another wallet or to validate any DeFi transaction, as it can be a swap between tokens or a deposit. This undoubtedly has reduced the benefits of operations, and has motivated many users to try other Blockchains with lower gas costs, such as BNB Chain, Polygon, Avalanche, etc.

About Environmental Implications

In relation to the environment, the reduced use of IT equipment to validating blocks with the PoS consensus provides a more responsible way of using the energy resources destined for mining with a much smaller carbon footprint. We cannot reduce energy consumption to zero, but it is possible to greatly optimize the energy consumption of the equipment. Ultimately, the security of the network will increase by the change of consensus, as validators who do not do a good job will lose coins in the form of penalties.

In other words, Ethereum 2.0 would move to the consensus mechanism called proof of stake, or PoS, in which the miner has more influence not because of his computing capacity but because of his possession (or hold) of network coins, in this case, Ether. This change will be a setback for current miners, but they will be able – in principle – to adapt easily since those who have been in the sector for years must have held a certain amount of ETH in order to anticipate the transition.

In addition, with the coming of the Metaverse, many users are eagerly awaiting version 2.0 of Ethereum to take advantage of the updated network. Although there is still no confirmed date for its publication, it will not take too long and the community will benefit from the new features of this Blockchain.

By Audy Castaneda