Consensus Protocols

Abstract

A consensus protocol may be defined as the mechanism through which a Blockchain network reaches consensus. Blockchains are built as distributed systems and, since they do not rely on a central authority, the distributed nodes need to agree on the validity of transactions. Proof of Authority is known to bear many similarities to Proof of Stake (PoS) and DPoS, where only a group of pre-selected authorities secure the Blockchain and are able to produce new blocks. New blocks on the Blockchain are created only when a supermajority is reached by the validators. The identities of all validators are public and verifiable by any third party, resulting in the validator’s public identity performing the role of proof of stake. Proof of importance is a consensus algorithm similar to PoS.