A consensus mechanism is a technology used by cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum to certify transaction validity and secure the underlying blockchain. This technique ensures that the blockchain contains all valid transactions and that each copy contains all valid transactions. The role of consensus mechanisms needs to be understood to understand how Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies work. We will have a detailed view of what they are, how they function, and how consensus mechanisms contribute to a secure, trustworthy blockchain experience for all users. Types of Consensus Mechanism Proof of work Compared to other consensus mechanisms, the proof-of-work process requires a lot of energy and computing power to establish a consensus, making it a costly option. The essential concept is that miners in a network must demonstrate that they have put out a specific effort. Miners provide the computational power required to maintain the blockchain and validate transactions. Miners also ensure that the network is secure against hackers. They compete against one another to connect a series of transactions, known as blocks. All verified transactions are stored on the blockchain and available to all network participants. Hash functions, or mathematical functions, are used by miners. In simple words, hashing is the process of taking any length input string and producing a fixed-length result. The actual problem is that by solving mat...
