Assessment of Consensus Algorithms for Blockchain Technology to Enhance Decentralized Applications

Abstract

The accelerating pace of adoption of decentralized applications requires the use of efficient, high-performance blockchain infrastructures. These blockchains are supported by consensus algorithms that are critical determinants of scalability, transaction speed, costs, and security. Developers are still unaware of the most useful options because there is a large gap in information regarding the comprehensive evaluation of these algorithms in practice. This study aims to test and compare the performance of the three most popularly used blockchain consensus protocols - Proof of Work (PoW), Proof of Stake (PoS) and Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) with the aim to improve the application of decentralized systems. By deploying smart contracts on real blockchain test networks (Callisto for PoW, Sepolia for PoS, and Tron Nile for DPoS), the research explores key performance metrics such as block time, deploy gas fee, block gas limit, and block size. The experiments utilize tools like Remix IDE and Tron-IDE, highlighting the practical implications of consensus algorithms under varying real-world conditions, including network congestion and transaction volatility. Tron Nile excels in speed and capacity but incurs high gas fees, Sepolia balances performance with moderate costs, and Callisto emphasizes cost efficiency at the expense of speed and scalability. Insights derived from this study provide valuable guidelines for developers to choose suitable consensus mechanisms based on the specific requirements of decentralized applications