https://twitter.com/itvc_/status/1499876106672902145
By BeInCrypto Staff 4 March 2022, 22:00 GMT+0000 Updated by Geraint Price 4 March 2022, 13:29 GMT+0000
IN BRIEF The consensus mechanism is the central element of any blockchain and guarantees the security and trustworthiness of the network.
Over the years more and more mechanisms were developed. All have their advantages and disadvantages.
But why exactly is consensus needed and what consensus procedures are there?
Proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, or rather proof-of-authority? To guarantee the trustworthiness of a blockchain, participants need to reach an agreement on the status of the network. To achieve this, many new consensus processes have been developed over the years. In this article, we take a closer look at what constitutes a consensus mechanism and why it is critical to the functioning of any blockchain.
Blockchain technology has been around since 2009 when the pseudonymous figure Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin blockchain. What started as an experiment is now a global movement. Because of this growth, purpose-built hardware is now required to mine Bitcoin using the consensus mechanism called proof-of-work.
In the past, mining was possible on your own computer. First computer processors were sufficient, then you had to upgrade to graphics cards. Today, mining only pays off if you’re a professional farm with cheap electricity.
In the case of Bitcoin, a lot of electricity is required for mining via proof-of-work. This is because specialized mining devices expend computational power to solve an algorithm. The algorithm is called Sha-256 and if the solution is successful, a so-called block reward is paid out – and that reward is Bitcoin.
Due to the high energy consumption, many blockchains are now moving away from proof-of-work as the preferred consensus mechanism. With the impending update “The Merge”, Ethereum will no longer be dependent on proof-of-work. Consensus will then be reached through a different method, the so-called proof-of-stake.
But what exactly is the consensus mechanism, and why is it necessary? Let’s take a closer look at how blockchains work.
The word consensus means “agreement”. More specifically, it means the unanimous opinion of people on a question. It represents the central element of every blockchain.
In a blockchain, transactions are stored in blocks by so-called validators. These then form a chain that continues indefinitely. Hence the name “blockchain”. A blockchain is a public, distributed database maintained by an independent community of computers around the world.

This independent community forms a peer-to-peer network managed by nodes and validators. They confirm the status of the blockchain. In order to guarantee that the database is not tampered with, the majority of all participants must recognize the same status of the blockchain: find a consensus.
A consensus mechanism is therefore an algorithm that achieves agreement on the status of a blockchain between its participants. These mechanisms are used to ensure that all participants have an identical copy of the database.
In this case, the network can only be overturned if the majority agrees to the same manipulated status, referred to as a 51% attack. This is a danger, especially for small proof-of-work blockchains, since you can rent computing power on certain websites.
Partly due to high energy consumption and 51% attacks, other consensus methods have been developed in recent years. Some have been more successful than others. As yet, the perfect consensus procedure does not exist.
Proof of Work
Proof-of-work (POW) is the oldest consensus method. This is where consensus is achieved through computational power. Participants are presented with a complex arithmetic problem that they have to solve using hardware. They receive a reward for the use of resources (hardware and energy). There currently is a move away from PoW, mainly due to the high energy consumption. Well-known blockchains based on POW are Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Monero.
Proof of Stake
Proof-of-stake (POS) is probably the most popular consensus mechanism after POW. It stands for “proof of stake” because consensus is reached here by the assets provided and the duration of the provision. Proof-of-stake was launched in 2012 in response to Bitcoin’s high energy consumption. Since there is no mining at POS, it is not possible to leverage the network with computing power. Attackers would have to acquire more than half of the circulating coins to do this. Well-known examples of proof-of-stake blockchains are Solana and Avalanche.
Delegated Proof of Stake
DPOS is a well-known advancement of proof-of-stake. Here delegates are democratically elected who are responsible for certain tasks in the network. Tasks include validating blocks and confirming the status of the blockchain. The voting right of the voters is usually weighted according to the number of tokens. Blockchains like Cardano, EOS, Tron, and Cosmos make use of DPOS.
Proof of Person
Proof-of-person is a lesser-known consensus mechanism. Here network participants prove that they are real people thus authorized to participate in the network activity. This proof can be provided by certain tasks or even by biometric data. This is particularly advantageous for decentralization since each person can only be represented once in the network. Blockchains based on some form of POP include Idena and Humanode.
Proof of Authority
Proof-of-authority is used to select trustworthy participants who are then allowed to carry out certain tasks. The selection usually depends on the reputation of the participants. Participants undergo an application process before they are considered as validators for the blockchain. The process is usually based on the real identity of the applicant. This ensures a high level of trustworthiness for POA networks, but at the same time involves security risks. The most well-known example of a proof-of-authority blockchain is BNB Chain, formerly known as Binance Smart Chain.
Although proof-of-work is considered the most secure consensus algorithm, many blockchains now prefer proof-of-stake. This mainly has to do with environmental factors, but the scalability of blockchains also plays a major role. The Bitcoin network, as digital gold, can get by with a low transaction volume and choose security as the first priority, but the situation is different with networks such as Ethereum, which are fundamentally dependent on fast and cheap transactions.
Therefore, proof-of-stake is the more attractive consensus method for these blockchains. But there are also some weaknesses here. The main criticism is that it makes the “rich richer” and usually creates centralized networks. For example, Ethereum network validators need 32 ETH (approximately $87,000) to be approved. This creates a major barrier to entry for newcomers and small investors, while investors with the necessary capital easily collect staking rewards, widening the gap between small and large investors.
The blockchain trilemma applies to the choice of consensus procedure. This states that a blockchain cannot meet the desired qualities of decentralization, scalability, and security at once, since one of the factors can only be achieved at the expense of the other. As a rule, scalable blockchains are not very decentralized and secure blockchains are rather slow. The only question is– which of the desired qualities do you prefer?
我从比特币学到的21课
本文取得了Gigi翻译的同意,非常感谢Gigi。 Gigi是Twitter上一个知名的Bitcoiner。 19年我在微博上翻译了Gigi的这个系列,但今年因为国内zc,我把这个内容下架了,最近想还是把这个系列发到Mirror。 比特币是一个兔子洞,真正掉进去的人就别想出来了,我们只有不断向下探寻,这个就是一个真正Bitcoiner的冒险之旅。 因为我懂得不多,英语水平有限,另外我也不是哲学、经济学科班,虽然计算机专业小硕毕业,但是密码学这块涉猎也不多,所以很多内容我都还不能很好的把握,后面准备每个月把自己学习到的和感悟更新到这个系列里面。 另外希望大家指正,不对的地方我下次一起修正。Philosophical Teachings of BitcoinWhat I’ve Learned From Bitcoin: Part ISome questions have easy answers. “What have you learned from Bitcoin?” isn’t one of them. After trying to answer this question ...
以下为@DeFiMiner 翻译整理的Multicoin创始人Kyle Samani近期推文,学习
1、下一轮熊市将跟以往不同,事实上,可能根本不会有熊市。或者只会有半个熊市,熊市周期缩短,这取决于每个人对熊市的定义。 不会那种出现矿难大面积萧条的熊市了,只会有你手中币不涨的熊市 2、广义上讲,加密货币有2类群体:货币加密&技术加密。2011到2017年,由货币加密群体主导;2017年以后,技术加密成为主流。 应该也可以称为加密货币&加密技术可能更准确 3、2017-2018年是货币加密阵营就权利和相关性的争夺,但今天很明显,技术加密主导了时代。 4、仍然有很多人只把 BTC 看作通胀对冲工具,但他们在媒体、社交渠道、会议演讲等中所占的比例越来越小。 ~~加密世界/时代Base 不一定挂在嘴边,就像我们每天用互联网不会提一嘴TCP/IP ~~ 5、货币加密群体主要考虑利率、央行政策等,而技术加密群体更关心建设。 6、作为通胀对冲,政客/央行不可避免地会做一些对 BTC 不利的事情。无论是禁止(或试图禁止),还是提高利率,或者其他行为。这些机构的动作有自然的潮起潮落,BTC-USD自然会做出反应。 7、技术加密群体不关心这些,他们只想打造很酷的新东西。哪怕BTC-USD 的价格因...
Curvance
Curvance: Wrapped Token Lending ProtocolA new way to earn yield and unlock the full power of your liquidity Curvance is a decentralized stablecoin lending protocol with an initial focus on wrapped tokens from the Curve, Convex, Yearn, and Badger ecosystems. Curvance seeks to allow users to continue earning yield while unlocking capital through peer-to-peer lending. Assets such as cvxCRV, bveCVX, and yvBOOST could earn similar or higher APR they would earn on their original platforms, but with...
https://twitter.com/itvc_/status/1499876106672902145
By BeInCrypto Staff 4 March 2022, 22:00 GMT+0000 Updated by Geraint Price 4 March 2022, 13:29 GMT+0000
IN BRIEF The consensus mechanism is the central element of any blockchain and guarantees the security and trustworthiness of the network.
Over the years more and more mechanisms were developed. All have their advantages and disadvantages.
But why exactly is consensus needed and what consensus procedures are there?
Proof-of-work, proof-of-stake, or rather proof-of-authority? To guarantee the trustworthiness of a blockchain, participants need to reach an agreement on the status of the network. To achieve this, many new consensus processes have been developed over the years. In this article, we take a closer look at what constitutes a consensus mechanism and why it is critical to the functioning of any blockchain.
Blockchain technology has been around since 2009 when the pseudonymous figure Satoshi Nakamoto launched the Bitcoin blockchain. What started as an experiment is now a global movement. Because of this growth, purpose-built hardware is now required to mine Bitcoin using the consensus mechanism called proof-of-work.
In the past, mining was possible on your own computer. First computer processors were sufficient, then you had to upgrade to graphics cards. Today, mining only pays off if you’re a professional farm with cheap electricity.
In the case of Bitcoin, a lot of electricity is required for mining via proof-of-work. This is because specialized mining devices expend computational power to solve an algorithm. The algorithm is called Sha-256 and if the solution is successful, a so-called block reward is paid out – and that reward is Bitcoin.
Due to the high energy consumption, many blockchains are now moving away from proof-of-work as the preferred consensus mechanism. With the impending update “The Merge”, Ethereum will no longer be dependent on proof-of-work. Consensus will then be reached through a different method, the so-called proof-of-stake.
But what exactly is the consensus mechanism, and why is it necessary? Let’s take a closer look at how blockchains work.
The word consensus means “agreement”. More specifically, it means the unanimous opinion of people on a question. It represents the central element of every blockchain.
In a blockchain, transactions are stored in blocks by so-called validators. These then form a chain that continues indefinitely. Hence the name “blockchain”. A blockchain is a public, distributed database maintained by an independent community of computers around the world.

This independent community forms a peer-to-peer network managed by nodes and validators. They confirm the status of the blockchain. In order to guarantee that the database is not tampered with, the majority of all participants must recognize the same status of the blockchain: find a consensus.
A consensus mechanism is therefore an algorithm that achieves agreement on the status of a blockchain between its participants. These mechanisms are used to ensure that all participants have an identical copy of the database.
In this case, the network can only be overturned if the majority agrees to the same manipulated status, referred to as a 51% attack. This is a danger, especially for small proof-of-work blockchains, since you can rent computing power on certain websites.
Partly due to high energy consumption and 51% attacks, other consensus methods have been developed in recent years. Some have been more successful than others. As yet, the perfect consensus procedure does not exist.
Proof of Work
Proof-of-work (POW) is the oldest consensus method. This is where consensus is achieved through computational power. Participants are presented with a complex arithmetic problem that they have to solve using hardware. They receive a reward for the use of resources (hardware and energy). There currently is a move away from PoW, mainly due to the high energy consumption. Well-known blockchains based on POW are Ethereum, Bitcoin, and Monero.
Proof of Stake
Proof-of-stake (POS) is probably the most popular consensus mechanism after POW. It stands for “proof of stake” because consensus is reached here by the assets provided and the duration of the provision. Proof-of-stake was launched in 2012 in response to Bitcoin’s high energy consumption. Since there is no mining at POS, it is not possible to leverage the network with computing power. Attackers would have to acquire more than half of the circulating coins to do this. Well-known examples of proof-of-stake blockchains are Solana and Avalanche.
Delegated Proof of Stake
DPOS is a well-known advancement of proof-of-stake. Here delegates are democratically elected who are responsible for certain tasks in the network. Tasks include validating blocks and confirming the status of the blockchain. The voting right of the voters is usually weighted according to the number of tokens. Blockchains like Cardano, EOS, Tron, and Cosmos make use of DPOS.
Proof of Person
Proof-of-person is a lesser-known consensus mechanism. Here network participants prove that they are real people thus authorized to participate in the network activity. This proof can be provided by certain tasks or even by biometric data. This is particularly advantageous for decentralization since each person can only be represented once in the network. Blockchains based on some form of POP include Idena and Humanode.
Proof of Authority
Proof-of-authority is used to select trustworthy participants who are then allowed to carry out certain tasks. The selection usually depends on the reputation of the participants. Participants undergo an application process before they are considered as validators for the blockchain. The process is usually based on the real identity of the applicant. This ensures a high level of trustworthiness for POA networks, but at the same time involves security risks. The most well-known example of a proof-of-authority blockchain is BNB Chain, formerly known as Binance Smart Chain.
Although proof-of-work is considered the most secure consensus algorithm, many blockchains now prefer proof-of-stake. This mainly has to do with environmental factors, but the scalability of blockchains also plays a major role. The Bitcoin network, as digital gold, can get by with a low transaction volume and choose security as the first priority, but the situation is different with networks such as Ethereum, which are fundamentally dependent on fast and cheap transactions.
Therefore, proof-of-stake is the more attractive consensus method for these blockchains. But there are also some weaknesses here. The main criticism is that it makes the “rich richer” and usually creates centralized networks. For example, Ethereum network validators need 32 ETH (approximately $87,000) to be approved. This creates a major barrier to entry for newcomers and small investors, while investors with the necessary capital easily collect staking rewards, widening the gap between small and large investors.
The blockchain trilemma applies to the choice of consensus procedure. This states that a blockchain cannot meet the desired qualities of decentralization, scalability, and security at once, since one of the factors can only be achieved at the expense of the other. As a rule, scalable blockchains are not very decentralized and secure blockchains are rather slow. The only question is– which of the desired qualities do you prefer?
我从比特币学到的21课
本文取得了Gigi翻译的同意,非常感谢Gigi。 Gigi是Twitter上一个知名的Bitcoiner。 19年我在微博上翻译了Gigi的这个系列,但今年因为国内zc,我把这个内容下架了,最近想还是把这个系列发到Mirror。 比特币是一个兔子洞,真正掉进去的人就别想出来了,我们只有不断向下探寻,这个就是一个真正Bitcoiner的冒险之旅。 因为我懂得不多,英语水平有限,另外我也不是哲学、经济学科班,虽然计算机专业小硕毕业,但是密码学这块涉猎也不多,所以很多内容我都还不能很好的把握,后面准备每个月把自己学习到的和感悟更新到这个系列里面。 另外希望大家指正,不对的地方我下次一起修正。Philosophical Teachings of BitcoinWhat I’ve Learned From Bitcoin: Part ISome questions have easy answers. “What have you learned from Bitcoin?” isn’t one of them. After trying to answer this question ...
以下为@DeFiMiner 翻译整理的Multicoin创始人Kyle Samani近期推文,学习
1、下一轮熊市将跟以往不同,事实上,可能根本不会有熊市。或者只会有半个熊市,熊市周期缩短,这取决于每个人对熊市的定义。 不会那种出现矿难大面积萧条的熊市了,只会有你手中币不涨的熊市 2、广义上讲,加密货币有2类群体:货币加密&技术加密。2011到2017年,由货币加密群体主导;2017年以后,技术加密成为主流。 应该也可以称为加密货币&加密技术可能更准确 3、2017-2018年是货币加密阵营就权利和相关性的争夺,但今天很明显,技术加密主导了时代。 4、仍然有很多人只把 BTC 看作通胀对冲工具,但他们在媒体、社交渠道、会议演讲等中所占的比例越来越小。 ~~加密世界/时代Base 不一定挂在嘴边,就像我们每天用互联网不会提一嘴TCP/IP ~~ 5、货币加密群体主要考虑利率、央行政策等,而技术加密群体更关心建设。 6、作为通胀对冲,政客/央行不可避免地会做一些对 BTC 不利的事情。无论是禁止(或试图禁止),还是提高利率,或者其他行为。这些机构的动作有自然的潮起潮落,BTC-USD自然会做出反应。 7、技术加密群体不关心这些,他们只想打造很酷的新东西。哪怕BTC-USD 的价格因...
Curvance
Curvance: Wrapped Token Lending ProtocolA new way to earn yield and unlock the full power of your liquidity Curvance is a decentralized stablecoin lending protocol with an initial focus on wrapped tokens from the Curve, Convex, Yearn, and Badger ecosystems. Curvance seeks to allow users to continue earning yield while unlocking capital through peer-to-peer lending. Assets such as cvxCRV, bveCVX, and yvBOOST could earn similar or higher APR they would earn on their original platforms, but with...

Subscribe to andywan

Subscribe to andywan
Share Dialog
Share Dialog
<100 subscribers
<100 subscribers
No activity yet