An Efficient Voting Based Consensus Algorithm for Permissionless Blockchains

Abstract

Blockchain is an emerging technology that offers a wide range of applications in various sectors such as financial services, industrial products, healthcare, and media, among others. The important component of any blockchain system is the consensus algorithm. It plays a major role in deciding the performance, efficiency, and security of the blockchain network. Currently, there are over 30 consensus algorithms in use, including Proof-of-Work (PoW), Proof-of-Stake (PoS), and Proof-of-Authority (PoA), among others. However, these algorithms have drawbacks in terms of security, stability, and productivity. While PoW is widely used by popular cryptocurrencies, it is unsustainable and inadequate for ensuring blockchain-based security solutions. PoS is more vulnerable to the concentration of wealth, leading to potential system destabilization by those with significant stakes. To address these issues, Delegated Proof-of-Stake (DPoS) is created, an algorithm that eliminates the competition for computing resources in block production. This approach reduces the cost of block generation and introduces a fully PoS-based election system, but still has security issues. This work introduces an enhanced version of DPoS called Improved Delegated Proof-of-Stake (iDPoS), which includes a downgraded mechanism to eliminate malicious nodes while maintaining security. Performance analysis demonstrates that the improved consensus algorithm is more efficient compared to PoS and DPoS consensus algorithms.