Hello steemkids, A wonderful week ahead to you all. I know you all are good and have been having some good time since the break in steemkids crypto academy.

We are resuming another round of steemkids crypto academy and we are going to make it as simple as ABC, such that every steemkids can read and understand it.

This week's lecture and subsequent ones will focus on what we call Blockchain Consensus Mechanism and its various types as its been used by various blockchains.

What is Blockchain consensus mechanism?

Every system have a system of control within it. For a centralized system, the authority is always coming from the top. However, in a decentralized system, the control is determined by the individuals referred to as nodes in the system. Most blockchains are decentralized in nature and thus the authority required to consummate, verify and secure the system is dependent in the various nodes that are found in the blockchain. They must be in agreement before any transaction is verified, confirmed and added to the blockchain.

So the process by which these nodes adopt to reach an agreement or consensus for any transaction carried out in the blockchain is referred to as Consensus Mechanism
This mechanism dictates what conditions is required so that new blocks can be added to the blockchain.

There are several consensus mechanism, we will be taking them one after the other.

We will just discuss two types today. They are

● Proof of Work(POW)

● Proof of Stake(POS)

Proof of Work(POW)

This is the first consensus protocol seen in blockchain technology. It evolved from the early days or blockchain technology. This type of consensus mechanism requires the members of the system known as nodes to solve a nonexistent mathematical puzzle to ensure no one defrauds the system.

The POW is used for crypto mining and transaction validation. When a transaction is validated, it is then recorded in a public ledger, adding them to the block. Once the block is completed it is then added to the blockchain. As the transaction is added to the block, it has a time-stamp. This time-stamp prevents that amount from being spent again on the blockchain.

Examples of blockchains that makes use of POW are

■ Bitcoin blockchain

■ Litecoin.

The validators are selected at random but they require sufficient amount pf computing power to carry out the validation.

Proof of Stake(POS)

Proof of Stake is a type of consensus mechanism in which the validator is chosen based on the number of a cryptocurrency that he is holding which he staked, usually the native token of the blockchain. The higher the amount of that cryptocurrency staked, the easier the person can be selected for the block validation.

The POS does not require so many expensive equipment, this reduces the amount of energy needed for the validation. This helps in stabilizing the price of the cryptocurrency since so many of it are locked up via staking. Stakers in a blockchain using POS consensus mechanism earns higher rewards from there staking. However it tends to demean the idea of decentralization since selection will always go to the highest hodler.

Examples of blockchain using POS are

● Ethereum

● Tezos

Assignment

1. What is blockchain consensus mechanism

2. Define Proof of Work and Proof of Stake.

3. List at least two blockchains that uses each consensus mechanism.

4. Differences between POW and POS.

Homework Rules

Must be a verified steemkid

Assignment should be done with your steemkids verified account

Ensure there is no plagiarism.

The post must be in steemkids community.

Kindly tag me in your post

resteem and drop your link as a comment for the post.

Use the following tags:

#steemkidscryptoacademys2 #steemexclusive #yourcountry(eg - #venezuela) #steemkids

The number of words should not be less than 201 words.

Entry will be closed at Saturday 20th November, at 11.59pm GMT.

The bests posts can be selected for quality posts of the day. The earlier the entry, the more it stands the chance of being selected.

Looking forward to having a great time with you all in Season 2 of steemkids crypto academy