Steemit Crypto Academy Contest / S1W3 - Blockchain through the concepts by @simonnwigwe

Ladies and gentlemen,
I bring you all a cavalry greeting. It is already the third week of the steemit engagement challenge and I want to drop my own entry on the topic Blockchain through the concepts. Indeed there are lots and lots of words that are associated with the blockchain technology but for the sake of this amazing contest we are only going to be discussing just one of these used concept.

It's no longer a story that every blockchain uses a consensus mechanism to validate transactions before they can be added to the list of successful blocks. We are also aware that there are many of this consensus mechanism which are used by different block chains. From research, the coming of the new consensus mechanism we are seeing today is as a result of improvement upon the previous.

This directly means that the consensus mechanism used is not effective enough and the need to look for a more effective one brings about improvement upon the old. When bitcoin blockchain was created, it uses the proof-of-work consensus algorithm but few disadvantages are seen in it and that lead to the development of the proof-of-stake and so on and so forth. For the sake of this contest, I want to discuss one of the best consensus mechanism as far as blockchain is concerned.

The delegated proof-of-stake which is abbreviated as DPoS is an improvement that was made upon the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. This means that a little loop holes has been seen in the proof-of-stake consensus mechanism and that has lead to the development of the delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS).

Before we go further in to the discussion of what delegated proof-of-stake is, let's first and foremost discuss what proof-of-stake is all about. The proof-of-stake consensus mechanism is a consensus mechanism that is used by so many blockchain. It is a method that is use to verify or validate a transaction before it can be added to the block.

In proof-of-stake mechanism, the validators of the block are selected based on the quantity of token they have staked in the blockchian and also how long they have staked the token. This means that for you to be selected as a validator you have to be among the highest stakers of the asset in the blockchain. In this type of consensus mechanism those with little stake do not benefit from the reward and also they do not have any effect in the blockchain as well. The big players controls everything.

With this type of issues, the delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism came into existence. Here, validators of the next block are selected based on election. It means that even those with little stake can combine their stake in a pool to select who will be the next block validator. And if the person who is voted by some of the stakers win, the reward gotten from the validation of the block will be shared by all those who contributed and elected the validator. Your reward here is based on the percentage of asset you staked.

From this you will agree with me that every staker in the has a reward if the person they have elected to be the next validator wins. It's more like democratic system of government where people combine their vote to select a representative. The amount you stake in the platform does not really matter because you have to be voted by others to be the next block validator.

Before any transaction can be added to the block of successful transactions, the criteria it must pass is the consensus mechanism. This is the agreement between stake holders of the blockchain on how they can validate and verify transaction. So every blockchain needs a consensus mechanism in other to validate transactions.

The delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism is very important in the blockchain because it is the method agreed upon by the stake holders to validate and verify transactions. This keeps the blockchain secured and transparent as well as effective.

Delegated proof-of-stake is also important in the blockchain because it gives a sense of belonging to all stake holders of the blockchain. As we have earlier stated, everyone can stake his token in the pool and then combine it with others which will be used to select a person or group which will validate the next transaction. The reward is also shared with all those who supported the elected validator based on the percentage of stake you are able to stake.

As I have mentioned earlier every blockchain needs a criteria to validate and verify transaction in every blockchain. The consensus mechanism is this criteria needed to verify this blocks. To me if the delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism is eliminated, there may be no blockchain or even if it will exist it will not be decentralized but it will be centralized since no agreement between stake holders are met.

Transactions can be manipulated if it is handled by just one person. So the trust in data and security of the asset will be doubted. But there are alternative or similar term that is associated to the delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS) consensus mechanism and this can also be used in place of the DPoS. Examples of consensus mechanism that can be used as an alternative to the delegated proof-of-stake are proof-of-work, proof-of-capacity, proof-of-burn etc.

Well, to me the delegated proof-of-stake consensus mechanism can be improved upon even though right now it looks very perfect. Everyone in the blockchain has a saying and power is not vested on the hands of few. The reward as we have seen is distributed based on the token you are able to stake in the pool of the person who was successful elected.

It is very democratic in nature when compared to proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. It can be improve upon if they make the election of the validators more rotational I.e delegates are to have their groups and if one person is elected in that group, that person should not be elected again until all those in the group becomes validators in a rotational manner.

Delegated proof-of-stake has proven to be the best consensus mechanism since it gave everyone a sense of belonging. It is not like the proof-of-stake where only those with high stake can become validators. The DPoS as we have seen is more democratic in nature.