In the field of cryptocurrency, the consensus mechanism is the core foundation that ensures that all nodes in the network agree on the transaction records. The existence of consensus mechanisms aims to solve the problem of data conflicts that occur in distributed systems and ensure the security and transparency of the blockchain. Common consensus mechanisms mainly include the following:

  • Proof of Workload (PoW): Competition for computing resources ensures that only nodes that solve complex math problems can add new blocks.
  • Proof of Interest (pos): Give nodes the right to produce blocks based on the number of coins held and the holding time.
  • Proof of Delegated Interest (DPoS): Increase efficiency by voting for a few representative nodes for block production.
  • Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance‍ (PBFT): Utilizing mutual authentication between nodes to improve tolerance of malicious nodes.

There are significant differences in the performance, security and decentralization of various consensus mechanisms. For example, although the proof-of-work mechanism is highly secure, it consumes more energy, resulting in inefficiency; while proof-of-equity effectively reduces energy consumption but may make the risk of decentralization for large holders increase. The following table summarizes the main features and application scenarios of different consensus mechanisms:

Consensus mechanisms specificities application scenario
Proof of workload High Security, Arithmetic Competition Bitcoin
proof of entitlement Low energy consumption, asset-dependent Ether 2.0
Proof of Entitlement Fast, highly decentralized EOS
Practical Byzantine fault tolerance Tolerance of malicious acts and efficiency Hyperledger Fabric