Consensus mechanism simplified
Introduction
Good day everyone how are we all doing, trust we had a wonderful Salah celebration and are all in good health.
Today on blog I would be talking about consensus mechanism and how they are important in the block chain network.
Origin of consensus mechanism
In a centralized institutionthe decision making is handled in the central by a single authority hence decision making is seemless and fast but can centralized institutions be trusted?
The issue if the intergrity of centralized institutions created the need for decentralized institution such as the block chain Network.
In a decentralized institution such as block chain the ledgers of transactions are made public for all members of the network to see hence transperance is assured.
Since all power doesn't rest in a centralised individuals it becomes almost impossible for the network to be compromise, giving decentralized institution more security over a centralized institution.
In order for a hack to occur let's say in the Bitcoin network 51% of the network has to be compromised the cost of compromising 51% would range in billions it not trillion hence it is not financial wise to do so.
The primary problem which limited the use of decentralized network in the past was the inability to decide amongst memebrs what should be added to the network and who would add such to the network this is due to fact that some members maybe malicious hence trust became a huge issue.
It wasn't until 2009 when Satoshi came about with a brilliant solution to this problem the consensus mechanism.
What is a consensus mechanism
The term consensus is very popular in crypto it's is used the prime building block of any serious crypto conversation.
The term consensus is gotten from two words
Consensus :this means the process in which a group of individuals agree to a particular conclusion to be taken collectively
Mechanisms : this is the systematic way in which an activity is stipulated to be carried out.
Consensus mechanism
This is the process whereby the decision of who is and what criterias are accepted for the next block on the network to be validated are agreed upon.
Types of consensus mechanism
Proof of work
In 2009 Satoshi offered the solution to the almost 2 decades problem how to solve the problem of consensus in a decentralized network
Proof of work : this consensus mechanism is reached based on the user who is able to solve the computing program specifcied with the block.
How this work : when a new block is created Individuals work on very difficult mathematics equations using application specific intergated circuit and graphic processing units to solve this problem, who ever solves the problem first gets to validate the block and receives a reward.
It is belived that those who put in such effort in hardware and time to solve such complex equations are deemed trustworthy and are rewarded in tokens.
Some crypto tokens which use proof of work are litecoin and Bitcoin.
With proof of work it offer a level of decentralized as anyone who has the appropriate hardware is capable of becoming a validator and can mine crypto tokens.
This singlur acts makes btc one of the most secured block chain network there is as to hack btc you would need to compromise 51% of the network.
With the proof of work they are so many redundancies such as the huge time lag it takes before a block is validated , with proof of work it takes approximately 10 minutes before a block is solved and this makes the network very slow there by reducing scalability.
In time of massive data load the gas charges using proof of work is often astronomical.
Source
Proof of history aims to easy the load of network by processing the blocks while adding the means of coding on it self. Itvtells when the transaction took place and thier origin.
How proof of history works : while the blocks are being made the time stamps of the block are being printed in Chronological order.
The only Blockchain that uses proof of history is Solana and it is presently the fastest.
By printing blocks in chronological order it it helpes reduce the waiting time of validation of block chains considerable making this the fastest consensus methods.
While the proof of history is very fast it can only be processed on a computer using a computer that processes sequencial.
This days most computers are capable of parallel processing to make things fasters but with parrel processing two block would be processed together which goes against the chronological order in proof or history.
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Proof of staking came as a result of the deficiencies in tbe proof of work.
Proof of staking rather than using high computing power to determine who gets to validate the next block on tbe chain and receive reward, validators are selected based on who a selected number of individuals who have staked a portion of thier token.
How this works :
Proof of staking works in the following way individuals who wish to become validators in the block chain are required to stake a certain amount of token. This staked token are them locked up as in the eventuality that a validator engages in any malpractice when chosen. The stake Tron is then seized.
Among the individuals who have staked thier token they are then selected at random for who would be the next to validate the block.
Examples do crypto which uses this consensus method are Tron and cardano
Proof of staking is more energy efficient as only memeber who are selected would be allowed to validate the next block, they do not all need to be running computing power and polluting the environment in the process.
There is less case of fraud using this methods as validator stand to lose all thier stalker Tron it they are found In breach of contract
In order to become a validator in this network one must have alot of money and Frankly this is isn't ideal as individuals with alot of money to lose can easily cheat the system.
Conclusion
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Often times we have all this words and they look like big English and it discourages us but today I hope I have been able to simplify vthe explanation of this terms to all concerned.
If you have read to this part thank you very much and I really appreciate do sure to leave a comment and upvote
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Great article on consensus mechanism, having gone far like this was expecting to the proof of burn (PoB) consensus mechanism as well. Anyway thanks for sharing and keep steeming.
They are Soo many types of consensus mechanism too broad to be convered under one post.
Hopefully I would include it into my next post.
Thouh it is a method which I am unfamiliar with
Ok. Looking forward to it.
Good
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interesting article Even though I don't really understand huh
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This is indeed a good one bro. Keep doing the good work. Greetings
Only the best for Tron fan club
You have explained the Consensus mechanism very well simplifying its features and examples. In fact, I could get a better idea of this Consensus mechanism through your explanations. Thank you very much for providing such informative content here.