A History of Blockchain Consensus Mechanisms
But ever since Bitcoin emerged in 2008, its original consensus mechanism – Proof of Work (PoW) – has been emulated and iterated, paving the way for a series of alternative algorithms with their own unique characteristics. Proof of Work was the original consensus mechanism used by Bitcoin and latterly implemented on the likes of Ethereum, Litecoin, and Dogecoin.
Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) is different again, with users able to stake coins to democratically “elect” delegates tasked with producing blocks on the network and maintaining consensus rules. Ethereum Express is one project using Proof of Authority, and claims to have achieved 1,000 transactions per block and a network capacity of 200 transactions per second (TPS) in tests involving Mining Express and a gambling company whose business model requires a high volume of onchain transactions.
