Crypto Academy Week 13 Homework Post for Professor @alphafx
Good morning everyone and welcome to week 13rd of the Steemit Crypto Academy Community. Today I will take part in one of the classes hosted by professor @alphafx. The theme given by the professor in this week is about "Consensus Algorithms". Because I have to choose one of the four choices of homework assignments given by the professor, then I decided to choose an assignment on Proof of Capacity (PoC) and I will try to explain it in this post. Happy reading!
A consensus algorithm is a series of mathematical codes that are used to reach an agreement and can be said to be a sequence of codes between nodes that are integrated in the blockchain network and used to confirm blocks, transactions and awards. There are several types of consensus algorithms, such as Proof of Work (PoW), Proof of Stake (PoS), Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS), Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET), Proof of Importance (PoI) , Proof of Activity (PoA), Leased Proof of Stake (LPoS), Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT), Proof of Burn (PoB), and Proof of Capacity (PoC). As homework, in this post I will explain about PoC.
PoC is a type of consensus algorithm used for mining cryptocurrency that is carried out on the blockchain network because every transaction must be validated on the blockchain network. PoC allows the use of the hard drives available on the blockchain as a device that miners can use to mine cryptocurrency and then the miners validate transactions.
Before mining activity begins, PoC has kept a list of possible solutions on a hard drive and it should be noted that the larger the hard drive space, the more possible solutions can be stored. This of course can provide a bigger chance for the miner to match the required Hash value and give the miner a bigger chance of winning the prize. Like the lottery, the winner is determined by matching the most numbers so that the miner who has a larger list of solutions will have a greater chance of winning the prize.
Plotting and mining are two principles combined in a PoC system. The first thing to do is plot the hard drive and generate all possible nonce values repeatedly using a hashing function to store on the hard drive. The nonce consists of 8192 hashes numbered from 0-8191 and each adjacent hash is combined into a hash pair called scoop, hash 0 and hash 1 become scoop 0, hash 2 and hash 3 become scoop 2 and so on. Next up is count the scoop number to calculate the deadline for each nonce stored on the hard drive. These deadlines are usually very short and only a matter of seconds.
In order to claim the block reward and forge the next block, the deadline must pass since the last block was forged and before starting a new block, provided that no other miners can forge blocks within that timeframe and that's because you have a shorter deadline. As an example, if I have a deadline of only 27 seconds and luckily no other miners can forge the blocks for the next 27 seconds, then I can forge the next block and claim the block reward, and now the crypto prize is mine. Next I will mention some of the advantages and disadvantages of PoC.
There are several advantages of PoC when compared to PoW. PoC allows the use of simple hard drives such as android so that it is cheaper, mining data can also be erased easily so that the hard drive can be used again for data storage, does not require constant hard drive upgrades, and has a faster block time than PoW. PoC block time is 4 minutes, while PoW block time is 10 minutes.
In addition, PoC can also reduce energy consumption when mining so that it becomes more energy efficient and saves costs, it can be said to be a solution to the energy consumption problems that exist in PoW and PoS. However, the shortcoming of PoC is that not many miners are currently using this system and another consideration is that there is still the possibility of malware that can disrupt mining activities.
Below are some of the well-known crypto assets that use PoC systems, such as Burstcoin, BTCHD, and Chia. The following is a brief explanation along with some other supporting information that I obtained from the https://coinmarketcap.com site.
- Burstcoin (BURST)
Burstcoin (BURST) is a blockchain-based payment system platform that uses BURST coins. BURST is a coin that is mined using the PoC system and can be used for various payments, fundraising and other small contracts. Because it uses the PoC system, BURST mining only consumes less energy. Every transaction here will be recorded on the public ledger.
| Market Rank | 784 |
|---|---|
| Price | $ 0.01186 |
| Low –High in 24h | $ 0.01099 - $ 0.01258 |
| Volume in 24h | $ 71,758 |
| Marketcap | $ 25,149,621 |
| Circulating Supply | 2,120,000,000 BURST |
| Total Supply | 2,120,425,448 BURST |
| Website | https://www.burst-coin.org/ |
- BTCHD (BHD)
BTCHD (BHD) is a blockchain-based payment system platform that uses BHD coins and these coins are mined using the PoC system. Mining can be done by downloading the application on a PC. One of the advantages of BTCHD is that it can handle up to 70 transactions per second.
| Market Rank | 778 |
|---|---|
| Price | $ 4.44 |
| Low –High in 24h | $ 4.30 - $ 4.64 |
| Volume in 24h | $ 6,239,406 |
| Marketcap | $ 27,034,174 |
| Circulating Supply | 6,083,016.35 BHD |
| Total Supply | 6,339,465 BHD |
| Website | http://www.btchd.org/ |
- Chia (XCH)
Chia (XCH) is a coin that can be mined using the PoC system by downloading the software on a PC via their official website and then running it to start mining. XCH coins are the prizes that you will get because you have plotted a part of your hard drive for use on the chia network.
| Market Rank | 2526 |
|---|---|
| Price | $ 1,030.66 |
| Low –High in 24h | $ 992.12 - $ 1,132.23 |
| Volume in 24h | $ 50,076,826 |
| Marketcap | $ 531,133,092 |
| Circulating Supply | 514,760 XCH |
| Total Supply | 21,514,760 XCH |
| Website | https://www.chia.net/ |
Even though it is not widely used at this time, PoC is a good option to consider when doing mining, especially in terms of saving energy and in terms of costs it is also more efficient. In addition, PoC is also simpler because it can take advantage of free space on the hard drive and even includes Android.
Good job, although we would have loved to see you compare it with its contemporaries, nevertheless, well done
Thanks for participating
Thank you Professor for your review.