12 Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms Demystified
What the heck are Proof of Xs?
Published in
7 min readFeb 3, 2022
#1 — Proof of Activity (PoA)
Proof of Activity (PoA) combines the best features of Proof of Work (PoW), and Proof of Stake (PoS) consensus models.
- Mining Blocks: The mining of blocks is with PoW. Miners compete with each other to solve cryptographic puzzles and mine new blocks.
- Validating Blocks: The validating process is with PoS. Selected validators, validate, sign and distribute the newly created blocks.
Both miners and validators will then be rewarded.
Example Project: Decred (DCR)
#2 — Proof of Authority (PoA)
Proof of Authority (PoA) is a consensus model in which consensus is made only with a defined set of validator nodes. In PoA, validators stake their identities instead of computation power or coins. These selected validators will then be in charge of proposing, and validating the newly created blocks.
PoA is a suitable consensus model for permissioned or private blockchains. Moreover, it is a great option for increasing throughput (transactions per second). Yet, it suffers from a centralized point of failure (limited set of validators).
