Clear DefinitionsProof-of-Weight
1 min read
Pronunciation
[proof uhv weyt]
Analogy
Imagine a system where decisions are made based on how much 'influence' each participant has. This influence ('weight') could be measured by their wealth, their reputation score in the community, the amount of useful resources they contribute, or some other defined factor. Those with more 'weight' have a greater say or a higher chance of being chosen to lead.
Definition
A broad category of consensus algorithms where the voting power or probability of creating a new block is proportional to some 'weight' or quantity held by a participant. This weight can be based on various factors, such as coin balance (like in PoS), reputation, storage capacity, or other quantifiable metrics.
Key Points Intro
Proof-of-Weight encompasses consensus mechanisms that assign influence based on a quantifiable measure of a user's 'weight'.
Key Points
A general concept rather than a single specific algorithm.
A participant's 'weight' determines their influence in the consensus process.
The 'weight' can be defined by different factors: amount of cryptocurrency (as in Proof-of-Stake), amount of storage provided (as in Proof-of-Capacity), reputation scores, or other metrics.
Aims to allocate control proportionally to some form of investment or contribution to the network.
Example
Proof-of-Stake is a specific type of Proof-of-Weight where the weight is the amount of staked currency. Algorand's consensus, where selection for block proposal and voting is weighted by stake, can also be seen as a form of Proof-of-Weight.
Technical Deep Dive
The core idea of Proof-of-Weight systems is to tie consensus participation rights to a scarce and quantifiable resource or characteristic that is considered valuable or indicative of commitment to the network. The specific implementation details (how weight is calculated, how it translates to block production rights, how Sybil attacks are prevented) vary greatly depending on what the 'weight' represents.
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