From 3bce8d847471b09e5a89744be0c076f6cb059721 Mon Sep 17 00:00:00 2001 From: Unknown Date: Mon, 8 Oct 2018 14:11:12 -0600 Subject: [PATCH] Added on Consensus Mechanism Added simplistic view. Sources from own knowledge/Peercoin University --- app/assets/docs/002-comparison-with-other-blockchains.md | 6 ++++-- 1 file changed, 4 insertions(+), 2 deletions(-) diff --git a/app/assets/docs/002-comparison-with-other-blockchains.md b/app/assets/docs/002-comparison-with-other-blockchains.md index d462289..6447669 100644 --- a/app/assets/docs/002-comparison-with-other-blockchains.md +++ b/app/assets/docs/002-comparison-with-other-blockchains.md @@ -5,7 +5,9 @@ Major differences between the two are the fee market, ie. the absence of it in P ## Consensus algorithm -Peercoin is secured by Proof-of-stake type of consensus. +Peercoin is secured by Proof-of-stake type of consensus. Proof-of-work uses energy as a scary resource to verify transactions, while proof-of-stake uses time as a scare resource measured in "coin age". Once a transaction has reached an age of thirty (30) days, these coins become eligible for minting. With a high enough coin, a new block will be minted, with minting being determined by fixed probability functions. After minting, a portion of will be given back to the minter, and their coins will again begin the thirty (30) day maturation process, giving other minters the opportunity to mint blocks. As a note, after ninety (90) days, a transaction reaches its maximum maturity and minting probability is at its highest. This minting can be done by simple low energy computers, such as a raspberry pi, making the process energy efficient when compared to proof-of-work power consumption, further increasing the possibility of decentralization. + +Another benefit of Peercoin's proof-of-stake mechanism is its monetary cost of attack. With pure proof-of-work, and individual can attempt to generate and verify faulty blocks without holding the proof-of-work coin or even a majority of the coin supply. Peercoin requires the malicious individual to hold Peercoin with a coin age of thirty (30) days minimum, as well as being required to hold a majority sum of the Peercoin supply, increasing their risk massively. This makes such an attack economically unviable. The requirement of those verifying the blockchain to hold a portion of the supply means investors are protected from malicious outside sources who hold no coins. Those who hold Peercoin and use the network, share interest in the security of the chain. ## Distribution @@ -120,4 +122,4 @@ Bitcoin and Peercoin generate a block every 10 minutes while Ethereum generates Table 1. Comparison of Crypto currency attributes (prices of transactions at the time of writing) ---- \ No newline at end of file +---