Consensus Algorithms

Consensus Algorithms are pieces of software that allow multiple parties to come to an agreement with regards to _______.

For them to properly function, they usually utilize some form of ___________ for safeguarding the consensus mechanism.

They generally combat the Byzantine Generals problem, a situation where heterogenous entities are met with a _________.

To properly handle these situations, a methodology via which all parties vote and vouch on what to do is implemented preventing _________.

In general, private network consensus mechanisms are less secure in favor of speed by allowing a compromisation of _________ of the nodes, in comparison to public networks which have a tolerancy of 50%.

The first of these algorithms was called Proof-of-Work, or PoW for short, and it utilized a mathematical problem whose solution could only be found by _____________.

Due to the enviromnetal impact of PoW, other algorithms were devised to become more eco-friendly. For instance, Proof-of-Staking would require validators to __________ to validate a new blockchain block.

Consensus mechanisms usually also represent the type of the underlying blockchain implementation, specifically whether it is _____________.

Some mechanisms also applicate a tier-based system to validate transactions with. This tier-based system could, for example, be based on the _________ of a node as is in Proof-of-Importance networks.

While those mechanisms are more crucial in public, decentralized, distributed and permissionless environments, initiatives have also taken place in the opposite categories to identify efficient consensus algorithms. Hyperledger Sawtooth, one such initiative, utilizes PoET which is based on _________.