Even though there are hundreds of competing blockchain projects in existence today, there is always room for more competition. Baidu, the Chinese counterpart of Google, recently introduced Super Chain. This new protocol will attract a lot of attention, mainly because it will reduce the energy consumption associated with crypto mining.
The Super Chain Initiative in a Nutshell
One has to agree that the electricity consumption associated with cryptocurrency mining is getting out of hand. Although most of the headlines published on this topic are somewhat taken out of context, it remains to be seen how this situation will evolve. Renewable energy plays a big role in this industry, although that doesn’t necessarily mean most mining firms have access to that type of electricity as of right now.
Baidu, the Google of China, has devised a plan to solve this problem once and for all. Known as Super Chain, it is a new blockchain protocol which is designed to make mining cryptocurrency a lot more efficient. It is allegedly capable of removing and inserting consensus mechanisms into Bitcoin and Ethereum, but it also scales on-chain transactions to a whole new level.
With an expected transaction throughput of 100,000 concurrent transfers, Super Chain takes scalability to a whole new level. Whether or not Super Chain will ever benefit Bitcoin or Ethereum, however, is unclear. A lot of key information regarding this project has yet to be unveiled, and speculation is running wild already.
While one has to commend major companies such as Baidu for focusing on the cryptocurrency ecosystem and blockchain technology, it remains a bit unclear how the technology can best be implemented. Judging from the information available at this time, it seems Super Chain will not be a competitor to Bitcoin or Ethereum, but rather a new protocol that can be used in conjunction with existing infrastructures.
This news comes at a rather interesting time for both Bitcoin and Ethereum. Both top cryptocurrencies are in the process of implementing their own scaling solutions. For Bitcoin, that comes in the form of the Lightning Network, whereas Ethereum will employ Casper, sharding, and Plasma. All of these concepts will help transform the cryptocurrency ecosystem as we know it today, which can only be considered a good thing.
At the present time, the future of Super Chain remains in question. There is no official timeline regarding new announcements, deployment, or applications. Even so, there’s plenty of reason to be excited about what this new protocol brings to the table. Any development in the blockchain and cryptocurrency world will be well-received by the community.
