See Also
Proof of Elapsed Time (POET) Summary [Cryptocurrency consensus mechanisms]
In this poetically named consensus mechanism, network participants prove that they have slept for a random amount of time before being able to mint a block. POET was released by Intel in 2016 and was originally aimed at trusted computing using Intel CPU’s. A special instruction set called Software Guard Extensions (SGX) allows programs to […]
Proof of Burn (PoB) Summary [Cryptocurrency consensus mechanisms]
In the Proof of Burn (PoB) consensus mechanism, miners earn the right to mint the next block by burning some value in the blockchain. All proof systems are based on the principle that minting a block must incurr in some cost, otherwise fraudsters could inject invalid transactions into the blockchain. Bitcoin achieves this by making […]
Proof of Location (PoL) Summary [Cryptocurrency consensus mechanisms]
In a Proof of Location consensus algorithm, users’ geospatial coordinates are accounted for as proof of value. This kind of algorithm is usually employed in cryptocurrency geomining systems. In a geomining application, users earn rewards for being at a certain place at a certain time. If, for example, a company wished to gather participants for […]
Opinion: Decentralized blockchains can only survive having a valuable token, like Bitcoin, attached to them [Feb 2018]
We’ve heard this time and again, especially from folks in the financial sector: “blockchain is here to stay, Bitcoin not so much”. Is this really so? We disagree, and in this article we discuss the origins of Bitcoin and how the problem it solved only makes sense when there’s a reward for participants to join […]