# Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer

DevFeed: [Turning Down a Blockchain Job Offer](<https://devfeed.tech/articles/turning-down-a-blockchain-job-offer-30841.md>)

Original publisher: [Read original article](<https://hookrace.net/blog/turning-down-blockchain/>)

Published: 2018-01-21T23:00:00Z

Content type: opinion

Language: en

Sources: [Dennis Felsing](<https://devfeed.tech/sources/dennis-felsing.md>)

Topics: [Blockchain](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/blockchain.md>), [proof of work](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/proof-of-work.md>), [Programming](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/programming.md>), [Hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/topics/hardware.md>)

Tags: [blockchain](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/blockchain.md>), [consensus](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/consensus.md>), [energy](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/energy.md>), [hardware](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/hardware.md>), [implementation](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/implementation.md>), [job](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/job.md>), [programming](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/programming.md>), [proof-of-work](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/proof-of-work.md>), [work](<https://devfeed.tech/tags/work.md>)

## AI overview

The author explains why they declined a generous, remote job developing a blockchain implementation. Although they found Bitcoin's electronic-cash concept and the programming opportunity appealing, they objected to proof-of-work's hardware and energy costs and to hype and questionable practices surrounding cryptocurrencies and token offerings.

## Source excerpt

I have recently received a job offer to work on a blockchain implementation. While the offer was very generous, I had to turn it down. In this post I want to collect the thoughts that went into my decision process leading to this conclusion. Introduction I have not touched blockchain technology much before, other than reading the original Bitcoin paper shortly after it was released and accepting Bitcoin donations for DDNet. But I have always used those donations pretty much immediately, and thus I have no investment in cryptocurrencies either way and am thus impartial to their fate. The Good I consider the Bitcoin idea to be quite interesting as an electronic cash system that doesn't require any trusted intermediary. This is a small and simple idea that combines old cryptographic ideas into something new. The job I got offered had a significantly higher salary attached than my current job. The new job would have been remote, thus enabling me to spend more time with my girlfriend and live in any location I wish. I would have been able to work in a nice programming language, developing a blockchain implementation from the ground up with a small group of colleagues. The Bad Proof of work in the form of mining is currently the most common form of trustless consensus in blockchain systems. It requires immense amounts of computational hardware in the form of ASICs and GPUs as well as energy to supply them. The only function of this is to prevent any one actor to take over more than 50% of the mining market and thus controlling the currency. This is a large price to pay for replacing trust. Looking at it the other way: Trust can be seen as a shortcut that humanity has used for a long time in order not to require expensive proof of work. For most applications this still works fine. Companies are doing initial coin offerings (ICOs), giving out their own cryptotoken to public investors, circumventing a proper IPO process. While companies often claim that their tokens will hav