One of the principal theories used in developing bitcoin is the Byzantine General Problem (BGP), but saying it was directly used to develop bitcoin would not be completely accurate. Instead, BGP is the concept around the Proof-of-work (PoW) Mechanism on which bitcoin works.

So,

What exactly is the Byzantine General Problem?

This is also known as the Byzantine fault, Byzantine agreement problem, Byzantine failure, interactive consistency, source congruency, and error avalanche.

So in practice, byzantine fault refers to a system where a component fails with imperfect information on whether the component has failed.

Let's begin from the beginning,

In its most basic version, think of you as being one of 20 (XYZ number) generals in a battle-field, and you have surrounded an enemy city. Each of the 20 generals is responsible for their own set of armies, spread around the city fighting different sets of enemies with no direct contact with the king. To convey a message to all generals, the king sends 40 messengers to go to each general and convey the message, with one messenger as a back-up for the first messenger.

With such a lag or delay in the communication, you’re no-doubt on your own. You get into a situation where information is imperfect and some groups of generals are attacking a castle and must decide as an individual group whether to fight or withdraw. Some generals may choose to assault, while others may prefer to withdraw.

The crucial issue is that all generals agree on a single conclusion, because a halfhearted attack by a few generals would turn into a rout, which would be worse than either a coordinated attack or a planned retreat.

The fight is won if all generals assault at the same time (left). If two generals falsely proclaim their intention to assault but then retire, high chances are the fight is lost (right).

Under such scenarios there are many things that can pop up in our head,

What if the messengers are spies or traitors? How do you verify that the messengers are real? A lot of things can be cooked up in our minds, or, for that matter, what if the generals have bad intentions?

The solution to this problem is to have a protocol in place which eliminates uncertainties and helps generals make more robust decisions.

If the loyal generals have a majority agreement on their plan, Byzantine fault tolerance can be obtained. Missing messages may be assigned a default vote value. Missing messages, for example, can be assigned a "null" value. Furthermore, if it is agreed that the null votes have a majority, a pre-assigned default technique has potential. (e.g., retreat)

The biggest benefit; creates a trust-less environment, where everyone is trusted and no-one is trusted at the same time.

Now, how does Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work Mechanism solve byzantine general problems?

*Byzantine Fault Tolerance (*BFT) is used in distributed systems that handle mission-critical activities. The Byzantine General's Problem is handled in Satoshi's version of the blockchain by miners who act as generals. Each node must attempt to validate transactions, which are analogous to communications delivered to the generals. The attacker might be imagined as negative actors (for example, hackers) that wish to steal communications or attack the network.

Because the blockchain is decentralised, there is no single point of failure in the system. The blocks are saved in a distributed database, which is duplicated across the network. This duplication also contributes to fault tolerance, as no failing computer may bring the entire system down. This is similar to having many messengers attacked by the enemy. The message will not be lost since it will be instantly duplicated with other messengers.

I’m always amazed whenever I read about the workings of bitcoin and the proof-of-work mechanism, which has so much potential in the real world.

A lot of things we do online are an exchange of value with each other. Not just money, but anything of value, and since we need a third party to store and verify everything, the internet is filled up with giant third parties.

We’ve repeatedly seen; trusting third parties and data breaches; exploiting the data for the company’s good; or selling the data with massive negative domino effects. Every time you think it’s as bad as it could possibly get, there's always another disaster around the corner.

I Believe bitcoin is not the solution of cash on the internet but it is the solution of trust on the internet

I would highly suggest you read and connect the dots between-

1. Consensus Mechanism

2. Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake

3. Zero-Knowledge protocols

4. ERC-20, ERC-721

5. Soul-bound-tokens

6. Cryptography

7. DLT

8. Sharding

9. DeFi

10. Smart-Contracts

11. dApps

You should understand why powerful organisations are opposed to this technology and how the foundation of our current system can be easily altered, reversed, and mismanaged.Bitcoin solves the entire foundational structure smoothly with little to no human intervention.

I also believe no matter how intelligent or advanced any technology is, it can always be misused until humans are the ones using it. Because no technology is "yet" smart enough to accurately predict human intentions or specific patterns, there will always be something missing, and in the end, that's what builds curiosity to keep advancing.

By settling into good, we miss out on the great. No wonder good is the enemy of great.

Thanks for reading,

Here’s my Twitter handle to stay connected :) 👇

https://twitter.com/divyvaid

One of the principal theories used in developing bitcoin is the Byzantine General Problem (BGP), but saying it was directly used to develop bitcoin would not be completely accurate. Instead, BGP is the concept around the Proof-of-work (PoW) Mechanism on which bitcoin works.

So,

What exactly is the Byzantine General Problem?

This is also known as the Byzantine fault, Byzantine agreement problem, Byzantine failure, interactive consistency, source congruency, and error avalanche.

So in practice, byzantine fault refers to a system where a component fails with imperfect information on whether the component has failed.

Let's begin from the beginning,

In its most basic version, think of you as being one of 20 (XYZ number) generals in a battle-field, and you have surrounded an enemy city. Each of the 20 generals is responsible for their own set of armies, spread around the city fighting different sets of enemies with no direct contact with the king. To convey a message to all generals, the king sends 40 messengers to go to each general and convey the message, with one messenger as a back-up for the first messenger.

With such a lag or delay in the communication, you’re no-doubt on your own. You get into a situation where information is imperfect and some groups of generals are attacking a castle and must decide as an individual group whether to fight or withdraw. Some generals may choose to assault, while others may prefer to withdraw.

The crucial issue is that all generals agree on a single conclusion, because a halfhearted attack by a few generals would turn into a rout, which would be worse than either a coordinated attack or a planned retreat.

The fight is won if all generals assault at the same time (left). If two generals falsely proclaim their intention to assault but then retire, high chances are the fight is lost (right).

Under such scenarios there are many things that can pop up in our head,

What if the messengers are spies or traitors? How do you verify that the messengers are real? A lot of things can be cooked up in our minds, or, for that matter, what if the generals have bad intentions?

The solution to this problem is to have a protocol in place which eliminates uncertainties and helps generals make more robust decisions.

If the loyal generals have a majority agreement on their plan, Byzantine fault tolerance can be obtained. Missing messages may be assigned a default vote value. Missing messages, for example, can be assigned a "null" value. Furthermore, if it is agreed that the null votes have a majority, a pre-assigned default technique has potential. (e.g., retreat)

The biggest benefit; creates a trust-less environment, where everyone is trusted and no-one is trusted at the same time.

Now, how does Bitcoin’s Proof-of-Work Mechanism solve byzantine general problems?

*Byzantine Fault Tolerance (*BFT) is used in distributed systems that handle mission-critical activities. The Byzantine General's Problem is handled in Satoshi's version of the blockchain by miners who act as generals. Each node must attempt to validate transactions, which are analogous to communications delivered to the generals. The attacker might be imagined as negative actors (for example, hackers) that wish to steal communications or attack the network.

Because the blockchain is decentralised, there is no single point of failure in the system. The blocks are saved in a distributed database, which is duplicated across the network. This duplication also contributes to fault tolerance, as no failing computer may bring the entire system down. This is similar to having many messengers attacked by the enemy. The message will not be lost since it will be instantly duplicated with other messengers.

I’m always amazed whenever I read about the workings of bitcoin and the proof-of-work mechanism, which has so much potential in the real world.

A lot of things we do online are an exchange of value with each other. Not just money, but anything of value, and since we need a third party to store and verify everything, the internet is filled up with giant third parties.

We’ve repeatedly seen; trusting third parties and data breaches; exploiting the data for the company’s good; or selling the data with massive negative domino effects. Every time you think it’s as bad as it could possibly get, there's always another disaster around the corner.

I Believe bitcoin is not the solution of cash on the internet but it is the solution of trust on the internet

I would highly suggest you read and connect the dots between-

1. Consensus Mechanism

2. Proof-of-Work and Proof-of-Stake

3. Zero-Knowledge protocols

4. ERC-20, ERC-721

5. Soul-bound-tokens

6. Cryptography

7. DLT

8. Sharding

9. DeFi

10. Smart-Contracts

11. dApps

You should understand why powerful organisations are opposed to this technology and how the foundation of our current system can be easily altered, reversed, and mismanaged.Bitcoin solves the entire foundational structure smoothly with little to no human intervention.

I also believe no matter how intelligent or advanced any technology is, it can always be misused until humans are the ones using it. Because no technology is "yet" smart enough to accurately predict human intentions or specific patterns, there will always be something missing, and in the end, that's what builds curiosity to keep advancing.

By settling into good, we miss out on the great. No wonder good is the enemy of great.

Thanks for reading,

Here’s my Twitter handle to stay connected :) 👇

https://twitter.com/divyvaid