Trust and Rewards in a Two-Tier Consensus Architecture

Abstract

Consensus algorithms based on the proof-of-stake (PoS) are becoming a viable alternative to proof-of-work-based distributed blockchain ledgers. In this work, we integrated PoS with Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance (PBFT) to ensure truthful and honest behavior of all nodes, leaders and ordinary nodes alike, that participate in block validation and ordering processes in a permissioned network environment. The proposed scheme is modeled using Markov Chain and probabilistic analysis, and it is shown to ensure proper consensus-based decision making even in case of substantial probability of dishonest node behavior.