Consensus Mechanisms || POW and POS

In my previous post, I deliberated on how secure Blockchain is and the features that actually makes it secure which includes cryptography and consensus mechanism. Private keys and public keys encryption were deliberated on which helps to build the blockchain walls and prevent people's data and identities to be lost to unauthorized users..

Today I'll be deliberating on proof of work and proof of stake which falls basically under consensus mechanism. These are the most common consensus mechanisms we have. These mechanisms are actually adopted to secure the network of most cryptocurrencies.

Proof of Work: This type of consensus mechanism is used to secure the network and validate transactions of Bitcoin and other coins. This Blockchain is secured by miners who use their computational power to confirm new blocks and then update them.

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Each successful miner would be rewarded after the confirmation and updating of new blocks. Proof of work is the oldest and safest consensus mechanism. Each successful miner would be rewarded after the confirmation and updating of new blocks. Proof of work is the oldest and safest consensus mechanism

Proof of Work is also used in Ethereum and Litecoin asides Bitcoin. Proof of stake is widely used in altcoins like Solana and Binance Coin.

Proof of stake: is more popular than proof of work and is a consensus mechanism that tends to be an alternative to proof of work in terms of scalability which is a limitation of POW. Validation of new blocks are carried out by validators and not miners as in the case of proof of work.

They don't require any complicated hardware to validate blocks instead, they lock the blockchain's native cryptocurrency. Winners are selected by the amount of crypto staked and then rewarded because the higher the amount of cryto staked, the highest the chance of being chosen as a validator.

As outlined at the onset, it is a consensus algorithm used by many cryptocurrencies to avoid double spending. Without the need for intermediaries, it is used to validate transactions that are peer-to-peer. These transactions are validated by miners who uses resource power to ensure the network runs securely.

These miners create and validate new blocks of which they'll need specialized hardwares to compete for the right to validate another block. These miners are rewarded based on each validation of blocks. This type of consensus mechanism works majorly on Bitcoin network that's why we have the Bitcoin halving.

Proof of stake as the name implies requires validators instead of miners in POW to stake or lock in some of their coins on a Blockchain. These validators rely solely on their crypto holding because the more coins staked or locked, the higher the chance of becoming a validator.

This is a clear picture in what we have in steem today. The steem power we have is locked and can be released at the end of a month. The higher the steem power, the higher your influence on someone's post. The differences between these two types of mechanism would be pointed out and which is better.

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Disclaimer: Any financial and crypto market information provided in this post was written for informational purposes only and does not constitute 100% investment advice. It's just basic knowledge every crypto trader or investor should have.