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Blockchain Consensus Overview

The document discusses the Consensus Problem in distributed systems, focusing on Byzantine Agreement and the AAP Protocol for achieving agreement in asynchronous environments. It also covers Nakamoto Consensus in Bitcoin, various blockchain models like GARAY and RLA, and the differences between Proof of Work and Proof of Stake. Additionally, it highlights hybrid consensus models and formal properties such as consistency, liveness, and fairness in blockchain systems.

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10 views3 pages

Blockchain Consensus Overview

The document discusses the Consensus Problem in distributed systems, focusing on Byzantine Agreement and the AAP Protocol for achieving agreement in asynchronous environments. It also covers Nakamoto Consensus in Bitcoin, various blockchain models like GARAY and RLA, and the differences between Proof of Work and Proof of Stake. Additionally, it highlights hybrid consensus models and formal properties such as consistency, liveness, and fairness in blockchain systems.

Uploaded by

anmoljain79421
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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1.

The Consensus Problem & Byzantine Agreement

Consensus Problem:

In distributed systems, consensus ensures all non-faulty nodes agree on a single data value, even

in the presence of failures. The problem becomes more complex under:

- Asynchronous networks: where theres no bound on message delivery time.

- Byzantine faults: where nodes may act arbitrarily or maliciously.

Asynchronous Byzantine Agreement (ABA):

It seeks to reach agreement despite Byzantine nodes in an asynchronous environment.

Randomized algorithms such as Ben-Ors protocol can solve it with high probability.

2. AAP Protocol (Asynchronous Agreement Protocol)

AAP is a randomized protocol designed for asynchronous Byzantine environments. It ensures:

- Termination: every honest node eventually decides.

- Agreement: all honest nodes decide the same value.

- Validity: if all honest nodes propose the same value, that value is decided.

3. Nakamoto Consensus

The core of Bitcoin's consensus protocol:

- Operates in a permissionless, pseudonymous, peer-to-peer network.

- Uses Proof of Work (PoW) for Sybil resistance and probabilistic consensus.

- Longest-chain rule and eventual consensus.

- Handles asynchronous communication and crash faults.


4. Abstract Models for Blockchain

GARAY Model (2015):

- Formalizes blockchain behavior in Nakamoto consensus.

- Defines persistence (consistency), liveness.

- Introduced Common Prefix, Chain Growth, Chain Quality.

RLA Model:

- Abstracts ledger as a state machine.

- Models PoW and PoS protocols.

- Uses random oracle for hash functions.

5. Proof of Work (PoW) as a Random Oracle

- Modeled using a random oracle for the hash function.

- Miners query oracle for nonce meeting difficulty.

- Ensures consistency, liveness, and fairness.

6. Proof of Stake (PoS)

- Validators create blocks based on stake held.

- More energy-efficient than PoW.

- Addresses issues: Nothing at Stake, long-range attacks.

- Uses slashing and finality mechanisms.

7. Hybrid Consensus Models (PoW + PoS)


Examples:

- Decred: PoW + PoS governance.

- Ethereum 2.0: Transition from PoW to PoS.

Benefits:

- PoW provides initial randomness.

- PoS improves efficiency and finality.

8. Formal Properties

- Consistency (Common Prefix): Honest chains agree up to last k blocks.

- Liveness (Chain Growth): Blockchain grows under honest majority.

- Fairness (Chain Quality): Honest rewards proportional to resources.

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