UCL
8.9.2021 10:03:32 CEST | Business Wire | Press release
University College London (UCL), a top-10 globally ranked university, has published a significant new research paper on the varying environmental impacts of different distributed ledger technologies (DLT). The paper examined the energy consumption of second-generation consensus models such as Proof-of-Stake, which promise to provide more favourable energy consumption characteristics than their Proof-of-Work predecessors. Researcher’s at UCL’s Centre for Blockchain Technologies (UCL CBT) quantified and compared the energy demands of six second-generation systems: Algorand, Cardano, Ethereum 2.0, Hedera Hashgraph, Polkadot, and Tezos. The full paper can be found here .
The research paper found that Hedera Hashgraph had the lowest overall energy consumption of the systems studied. Dr. Paolo Tasca, Executive Director at UCL CBT, said: “At this point, the benefits of Proof-of-Stake are well-recognised and understood in the blockchain space. However, through this research we have found that not all Proof-of-Stake networks are created equally. This is something that both investors and adopters need to be wary of when selecting their network of choice. While it’s fantastic to see that Ethereum 2.0 will be Proof-of-Stake, looking at these results it’s clear that we need to remain vigilant of its potential environmental impact.”
The research was conducted by UCL CBT by formalizing a basic mathematical consumption model for validator-based Sybil attack resistance schemes. This model allows quantifying the energy consumption per transaction based on common input variables, such as the number of validators and the throughput characteristics of the system analysed.
Ultimately, the study found that the energy needs of the varying consensus protocols was dependent on the number of active validators. The UCL researchers warned that distributed ledger technology (DLT) networks need to be wary of the effect of different design choices in their architecture over energy consumption, as well as of the quality of the hardware used by the node operators. The research concluded that DLT networks must remain focused on environmental friendliness as scale increases.
Dr. Tasca concluded: “The findings of this study are a fantastic starting point for improving existing DLT design options, as well as developing new consensus protocols while keeping sustainability front of mind. We found that, through applying contemporary throughput and validator counts, Hedera Hashgraph has the most favourable energy consumption characteristics.”
For more information, download the full report at: http://blockchain.cs.ucl.ac.uk/blockchain-energy-consumption/
About University College London
Founded in 1826 in the heart of London, UCL is London's leading multidisciplinary university, with more than 13,000 staff and 42,000 students from 150 different countries. Ranked 8th in the world by QS World University Rankings in 2022, University College London is amongst the best universities in the world. It was the first university in England to welcome students of any religion and the first to welcome women on equal terms with men. UCL's founding principles of academic excellence and research aimed at addressing real-world problems continue to inform its ethos to this day through focusing its research endeavours on the Grand Challenges of Global Health, Sustainable Cities, Cultural Understanding, Human Wellbeing, Transformative Technology, and Justice & Equality. UCL’s dedication to world-class research, education and innovation is recognised through its globally recognised ranking. In the most recent Research Excellence Framework, UCL was the top-rated university in the UK for research strength.
About the UCL Centre for Blockchain Technologies (UCL CBT)
UCL CBT is the world’s largest research centre on blockchain technologies by number of associates. Founded in 2015 by Prof. Paolo Tasca and Prof. Tomaso Aste, its mission is to research the effects of Distributed Ledger Technologies and Blockchain into our socio-economic systems and to promote the safe and organic development and adoption of Blockchain-based platforms.
View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20210908005169/en/
Social Media:
About Business Wire
Subscribe to releases from Business Wire
Subscribe to all the latest releases from Business Wire by registering your e-mail address below. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Latest releases from Business Wire
TetraMem Announces 22nm Multi-Level RRAM Analog In-Memory Computing SoC Milestone16.5.2026 10:43:00 CEST | Press release
TetraMem Inc., a Silicon Valley–based semiconductor company developing analog in-memory computing (IMC) solutions, today announced the successful tape-out, manufacturing, and initial silicon validation of its MLX200 platform, a 22nm multi-level RRAM-based analog IMC system-on-chip (SoC). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260516556464/en/ Photograph of the MLX200 chip with a five-cent coin for size reference The achievement marks a significant step toward the commercialization of analog computing architectures based on emerging non-volatile memory technologies, addressing the growing challenges of data movement, power consumption, and thermal constraints in modern AI systems. As AI workloads continue to scale, system performance is increasingly constrained by the cost of moving data between memory and compute units. Analog in-memory computing offers a fundamentally different approach by performing computation dir
STARTEEPO Invest Announces 5% Stake in Xerox Holdings Corporation15.5.2026 18:15:00 CEST | Press release
STARTEEPO Invest (“STARTEEPO”), an alternative investment fund focused on public equity opportunities, today announced that it has acquired a significant ownership position in Xerox Holdings Corporation (“Xerox” or the “Company”). This press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20260515594020/en/ As of the date of this release, STARTEEPO and its affiliates beneficially owns 6.6 million shares of Xerox (excluding options), representing approximately 5.05% of the Company’s outstanding common stock. STARTEEPO has filed a Schedule 13D with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) providing additional details regarding its investment. Investment Perspective STARTEEPO believes that Xerox represents an interesting investment opportunity supported by a combination of balance sheet initiatives, ongoing operational improvements, and its position within a changing and consolidating industry. In STARTEEPO’s view, the Company
NTT DATA Announces Intent to Acquire WinWire to Scale Enterprise AI Adoption and Accelerate Industry Transformation with Microsoft15.5.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
Accelerates AI‑driven transformation through expanded agentic AI and data engineering capabilities that underpin NTT DATA’s AI strategy Adds 1,000 Azure engineers and AI specialists to scale cloud and AI delivery capabilities Advances NTT DATA’s North America leadership position, scaling industry aligned AI led innovation across its cloud services and Microsoft Business Unit Builds on NTT DATA’s position as the fastest-growing Microsoft GSI partner, accelerating co-innovation in enterprise AI NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and IT services, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WinWire,an award-winning Microsoft partner specializing in Agentic AI, AI on Azure, data engineering and cloud-native development as foundational capabilities for enterprise AI. The acquisition strengthens NTT DATA’s position as a trusted partner to help organizations move beyond experimentation to operationalize AI at scale. The acquisition further advances NTT DATA’s
NTT DATA Announces Intent to Acquire WinWire to Scale Enterprise AI Adoption and Accelerate Industry Transformation with Microsoft15.5.2026 16:00:00 CEST | Press release
Accelerates AI‑driven transformation through expanded agentic AI and data engineering capabilities that underpin NTT DATA’s AI strategy Adds 1,000 Azure engineers and AI specialists to scale cloud and AI delivery capabilities Advances NTT DATA’s North America leadership position, scaling industry aligned AI led innovation across its cloud services and Microsoft Business Unit Builds on NTT DATA’s position as the fastest-growing Microsoft GSI partner, accelerating co-innovation in enterprise AI NTT DATA, a global leader in AI, digital business and IT services, today announced it has signed a definitive agreement to acquire WinWire,an award-winning Microsoft partner specializing in Agentic AI, AI on Azure, data engineering and cloud-native development as foundational capabilities for enterprise AI. The acquisition strengthens NTT DATA’s position as a trusted partner to help organizations move beyond experimentation to operationalize AI at scale. The acquisition further advances NTT DATA’s
Experian Expands Agent Trust Partner Ecosystem with Akamai to Advance Trusted AI Driven Commerce15.5.2026 15:00:00 CEST | Press release
Collaboration strengthens secure, scalable agentic commerce and supports emerging Know Your Agent standards Experian today announced that Akamai Technologies has joined its growing partner ecosystem, designed to further advance secure, trusted AI driven commerce through the Experian Agent Trust™ framework, alongside partner Skyfire supporting emerging payment innovation. As AI agents begin to search, decide, and transact autonomously, they introduce a fundamental challenge for businesses: how to trust an action when it is no longer directly initiated by a human. Without a verified connection between humans and AI agents, autonomous commerce introduces new risks in fraud, misrepresentation, and unauthorized transactions. Experian Agent Trust is designed to address this challenge by establishing identity, accountability, and trust in agent driven interactions. “Trust, security, and performance must scale alongside the growing role of AI agents in digital commerce,” said Kathleen Peters,
In our pressroom you can read all our latest releases, find our press contacts, images, documents and other relevant information about us.
Visit our pressroom