A hybrid PoS-PoET consensus mechanism for energy-efficient and scalable blockchain systems

Abstract

The growing implementation of blockchain technology across various application areas has made the need for energy-efficient and scalable consensus mechanisms more pressing. Conventional consensus protocols like Proof of Work (PoW), although secure in nature, have high energy expenditures and are limited in scalability. This paper introduces a new hybrid consensus algorithm that merges Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Elapsed Time (PoET) to overcome such limitations. The new method leverages the deterministic stake-based leader election of PoS and the low-energy time-based leader election facilitated by PoET’s utilization of Trusted Execution Environments (TEEs). This fusion enables an optimal balance between energy efficiency, security, and decentralization. A systematic design of the hybrid mechanism is provided, and then analytical performance comparison with standard PoW, PoS-only, and PoET-only models is presented. The results indicate that the hybrid model has significant energy consumption and latency decreases, making it a perfect candidate for implementation within resource-constrained environments such as agricultural and healthcare digital twin infrastructures. The paper ends by emphasizing the potential of the suggested consensus model to facilitate sustainable blockchain ecosystems.