What is a Consensus Mechanism?
The consensus mechanism word is made up of two words: The consensus part means to have a bunch of people agree and the mechanism means the routine procedure to get there. So, consensus mechanism means a procedure that will be used to make sure everyone agrees on something.
- A consensus mechanism is a system that is used to verify transactions and maintain the security of a blockchain network on decentralized networks.
- It provides a way to come to an agreement on a single state of the network or single data value. In the case of cryptocurrencies, technically they are agreeing on the blockchain. More specifically the state of the blockchain includes individual transactions and even more advanced parts like data and small contracts.
There are several types of consensus mechanisms, and each works in a different way to ensure that all participants in the network agree on the validity of transactions and blocks that are added to the blockchain.
Cryptographic Consensus Mechanisms in Blockchain
A consensus mechanism is an algorithm that is used to achieve agreement, trust, and security across a decentralized computer network. These protocols help to make sure that all the nodes are synchronized with each other and agree on transactions, which are legitimate and are added to the blockchain.