The Otherside of Gossip: Transactions get around Faster than Blockchain
Don’t you hate it when you tell someone about a new baby that was born to (insert name) who is just the cutest little thing ever, only to get the reply, “heard it already”? Gossip travels very fast. Therefore the name was appropriately given to a technology that is similar to, but very different from, the blockchain. Read more to find out about the innovation that might change the way we think about cryptocurrency. Disclaimer: this article does not endorse any product it mentions, or does not mention, nor does it give financial advice. It only gives an introduction to cryptocurrency and its underlying technology.
Consensus and the Blockchain
Consensus is the main mechanism that makes the blockchain decentralised and trustless. When a consensus is reached, the block is confirmed, or verified, and added to the blockchain. There are 2 systems that are used to reach consensus in the blockchain system, namely, proof of work (PoW) and proof of stake (PoS).
PoW works with miners who have to solve a complicated mathematical problem. The first miner to solve this informs the others. When the majority of miners agree the miner solved the block, it is validated and added to the immutable blockchain.
PoS is when each miner stakes his cryptocurrency and this pool is locked away. Then each miner has to vote on whether this transaction is the correct transaction before it can be written to the blockchain. Once a majority of miners vote that this transaction is indeed correct, that is, a consensus is reached, it is validated. It is now written to the immutable blockchain. Whoever voted the correct way, gets the cryptocurrency staked. Those who voted the wrong way, lose their cryptocurrency that they staked.
Blockchain therefore works off the gossip system. All computers share their information with all other computers.
Gossip about Gossip Protocols
Gossip about gossip does not require miners. Hence it does not require miners to vote, but it too must reach a consensus. So how does it achieve this without miners and miners voting? A very good question with an even better answer. How is consensus reached if each node is making its own calculations? Another good, but this time, misleading question.
Consensus in Gossip about Gossip Protocols
Each node tells other nodes what it knows. Thus each node knows everything all the other nodes know. All the nodes therefore make the same calculation. Thus they all come out with exactly the same answer. Thereby achieving consensus and validating the transaction. This creates a trustless, decentralised system without blocks.
Summary
Gossip about gossip protocols work in a very different way to the blockchain, while still remaining decentralised. They have the advantage of lower fees because there are no miners and excellent scalability. This makes gossip about gossip protocols exciting prospects. Still gossip about gossip protocols are even younger than the blockchain so everything is speculative.
