APoW, or Adjusted Proof of Work, is the consensus mechanism underlying the Polycash protocol. By combining difficulty adjustment, time verification, and the Polycash Incentives System, APoW increases security, decentralization, and power efficiency to the network and blockchain. APoW is composed of three components. The first, difficulty adjustment, is necessary for decreasing the energy consumption of the network and improving its decentralization. Time verification, on the other hand, is designed to improve the network's security and reliability. Finally, the Polycash Incentives System prevents miners from performing Sybil attacks when attempting to maximise profits.


A graph of difficulty edge against mining speed.

As shown in the above graph, faster miners have a higher chance of winning blocks. However, there are diminishing returns- past a certain point defined by the overhead costs of mining, it becomes unprofitable to inrease computing power. This means that large mining corporations that create centralization and draw extremely large amounts of power from the grid will not mine on the Polycash blockchain. Instead, miners will use equipment with low power usage and hashrate. This reduces environmental impact while also maintaining equity between miners.
And while the total hashrate of the network is lower, there is no harsh impact on security. APoW also works against entities trying to fork the chain by increasing their blocks' difficulty as their hashpower increases.
More decentralization, less power, same security.