consensus
  • README
  • Blockchain Consensus Encyclopedia Infographic
  • CONTRIBUTING
  • Introduction
  • Blockchain Consensus?
  • Glossary
  • Categorizing consensus
  • Chain-based Proof of Work
    • Proof of Work (PoW)
    • Proof of Meaningful Work (PoMW)
    • Hybrid Proof of Work (HPoW)
    • Proof of Work time (PoWT)
    • Delayed Proof of Work (dPoW)
    • Proof of Edit Distance
    • ePoW: equitable chance and energy-saving.
    • Semi-Synchronous Proof of Work (SSPoW)
  • Chain-based Proof of Stake
    • Delegated Proof-of-Contribution (DPoC)
    • Secure Proof of Stake (SPoS)
    • Hybrid PBFT/Aurand
    • Proof of Stake (PoS)
    • Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)
    • Proof of Stake Time (PoST)
    • Proof of stake Boo (PoS Boo)
    • High Interest Proof of Stake (HiPoS)
    • Asset PoS (APoS )
    • Traditional Proof of Stake / Tiered Proof Of Stake (TPOS)
    • Casper the Friendly Finality Gadget (FFG)
    • Correct By Construction (CBC) Casper
    • Variable Delayed Proof of Stake (vDPOS)
    • Proof of Stake Velocity
    • Magi's Proof of Stake (mPoS)
    • Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS)
    • Delegated Proof of Importance (DPoI)
    • Leasing Proof of Stake (PoS/LPoS)
  • Chain-based Proof of Capacity/Space
    • Proof of Process
    • Proof of capacity (PoC)
    • Proof of Signature (PoSign)
    • Proof of Retrievability (POR)
    • Proof of Location
    • Proof of Reputation (PoR)
    • Proof of Proof (PoP)
    • Proof of History
    • Proof of Existence
    • Proof of Research (DPoR)
    • Proof of Activity
    • Proof of Weight (PoWeight)
    • Proof of Zero (PoZ)
    • Proof of Importance
    • Proof of Care (PoC)
    • Raft
    • Proof of Value (PoV)
    • Proof of Participation (PoP)
    • Proof of Believability
    • Proof of Stake (POS) / Proof of Presence (PoP)
    • Proof of Ownership
    • Proof of Quality (PoQ)
    • Proof of Space (PoC)
  • Chain-based Hybrid models
    • GRANDPA
    • Proof of authority (PoA)
    • Ethereum Proof of Authority
    • Limited Confidence Proof-of-Activity (LCPoA)
    • Proof of Work (PoW) / Nexus Proof of State (nPoS) or Nexus Proof of Holding (nPOH)
    • Proof of Activity
    • Proof of Work (PoW) / Proof of Stake (PoS) / Proof Of Care (PoC)
    • Proof of work (PoW) / High Interest Proof of Stake (HiPoS)
    • Proof of Work (PoW) / PoM / PoSII
  • Chain-based Proof of Burn
    • Proof of Processed Payments (PoPP)
    • Proof of Burn (PoB)
    • Proof of Time
    • Proof of Stake (PoS) / Proof of Disintegration (PoD)
  • Chain-based Trusted computing algorithms
    • Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET)
  • Chain-based PBFT and BFT-based Proof of Stake
    • leaderless BFT dual ledger architecture
    • Albatross
    • asynchronous BFT protocol
    • BFTree
    • Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT)
    • Delegated Byzantine Fault Tolerance
    • Federated Byzantine Agreement
    • HotStuff
    • LibraBFT
    • Modified Federated Byzantine Agreement (mFBA)
    • Ouroboros
    • Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance
  • Chain-based others
    • Proof of Trust (PoT)
    • Proof of Devotion
    • Snowglobe
    • Avalanche
    • Serialization of Proof-of-work Events (Spectre)
    • Scrypt-adaptive-N (ASIC resistant)
  • Chain-based DAG
    • BlockFlow
    • Direct Acyclic Graph Tangle (DAG)
    • Hashgraph
    • Block-lattice - Directed Acyclic Graphs (DAGs)
  • Magi's proof-of-work (mPoW)
  • Common Attacks
  • Performance indicators
  • ThresholdRelay
  • Holochain
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Blockchain Consensus?

At the core of the Blockchain disruption are consensus algorithm:

Consensus algorithms enable network participants to agree on the contents of a blockchain in a distributed and trust-less manner.

“Consensus decision-making is a group decision-making process in which group members develop, and agree to support a decision in the best interest of the whole. Consensus may be defined professionally as an acceptable resolution, one that can be supported, even if not the “favourite” of each individual. Consensus is defined by Merriam-Webster as, first, general agreement, and second, group solidarity of belief or sentiment.” Wikipedia

And the consensus algorithm plays a crucial role in maintaining the safety and efficiency of blockchain. Using the right algorithm may bring a significant increase to the performance of blockchain application.

The trilemma claims that blockchain systems can only at most have two of the following three properties: 1. Decentralization (defined as the system being able to run in a scenario where each participant only has access to O(c) resources, i.e. a regular laptop or small VPS) 2. Scalability (defined as being able to process O(n) > O(c) transactions) 3. Security (defined as being secure against attackers with up to O(n) resources)

Each consensus algorithm has its own application scenario. There is no absolute good or bad. The choice of which consensus to use for implementing the blockchain depends on the type of network and data.

For a transaction to be valid on most cryptocurrency networks, the transaction needs to collect a certain number of confirmations (often equals to an inclusion in a block of a blockchain) from the network. E.g 10 confirmations means to see a specific transaction in one block and 9 consecutive blocks.

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Last updated 6 years ago