What is Bitcoin Spark’s “Proof of Process” Validation System?

A validation system is how a blockchain confirms or ‘validates’ the transactions that happen and ensures that all miners or ‘validators’ reach an agreement or ‘consensus’ that these transactions are valid.

Proof-of-Process is a consensus mechanism blend between the original ‘proof-of-work’ and the adapted ‘proof-of-stake.’ This proprietary system rewards validators for confirming transactions on the network (creating blocks) and for providing processing power to Bitcoin Spark customers using the network for computational tasks.

The work required and power consumption for block confirmation is low compared to other networks and compared to the computational task product.

The rewards are weighted more towards processing power (the ‘work’ aspect of consensus) rather than the amount of BTCS staked, and both rewards per additional power and rewards per larger stake size decrease exponentially to ensure no single entity can capture network control.

A rewards calculator will be available in the Bitcoin Spark application so validators can see profitability before partaking in the network consensus.

Below represents the basic logic flow for reaching transaction finality.

The Bitcoin Spark network is divided loosely into four layers that work in a cyclical system:

1. Execution layer — This layer is where block creation takes place by selecting validators. This execution layer will run using the proprietary Bitcoin Spark validator selection algorithm that does not automatically assign a validator based on transaction size.
2. Consensus layer — This layer creates an agreement between all validators that the new block is valid before indexing the block. This consensus process is another step in securing the network from attacks.
3. Mining’ layer — This layer runs completely separately from other layers, facilitating the processing power product that runs over the Bitcoin Spark network.
4. Rewards layer — This layer reads the mining layer and allocates rewards on the execution layer for miners. The rewards layer only reads computational data summaries and has no access to the encrypted data being moved within the Bitcoin Spark product.

Validators are encouraged on the Bitcoin Spark network. Unlike other resource-heavy networks that essentially ‘waste’ energy verifying transactions, the Bitcoin Spark network is incredibly lightweight, allowing for lower-power devices to run the network. This opens up the opportunity for a much higher number of validators to significantly increase the validator amount, boosting security whilst avoiding the issue of network strangling that other blockchains would experience from having too many validators.

This functionality allows for unlimited devices to validate and provide processing power to the Bitcoin Spark network, with the double benefit of increasing the product potential infinitely and increasing the security of the blockchain itself.

It is this inclusionist attitude that Bitcoin Spark will be able to reach wider adoption, as partaking and engaging with the network on a deeper level sustains a higher feeling of worth and input, which will in itself expand the network capabilities well beyond those already in existence.