Consensus

Consensus is the backbone of a blockchain, as it provides the decentralization of control through an optional process known as mining. The choice of the consensus algorithm to utilize is governed by the type of blockchain in use; that is, not all consensus mechanisms are suitable for all types of blockchains. For example, in public permissionless blockchains, it would make sense to use PoW instead of mechanisms that are more suitable for permissioned blockchains, such as Proof of Authority (PoA) or traditional Byzantine fault-tolerant consensus mechanisms. Therefore, it is essential to choose an appropriate consensus algorithm for a particular blockchain project.

Consensus is a process of achieving agreement between distrusting nodes on the final state of data. To achieve consensus, different algorithms are used. It is easy to reach an agreement between two nodes (in client-server systems, for example), but when multiple nodes are participating in a distributed system...