Double Spending Explained
As a result,if you want to create a block,you’re playing a guessing game. You typically take information on all of the transactions that you want to add and some other important data,then hash it all together. But since your dataset won’t change,you need to add a piece of information that is variable. Otherwise,you would always get the same hash as output. This variable data is what we call a nonce. It’s a number that you’ll change with every attempt,so you’re getting a different hash every time. And this is what we call mining.
For major cryptocurrencies today,the conditions are incredibly challenging to satisfy. The higher the hash rate on the network,the more difficult it is to find a valid hash. This is done to ensure that blocks aren’t found too quickly.
Let’s recap what we know so far
- It’s expensive for you to mine.
- You’re rewarded if you produce a valid block.
- Knowing an input,a user can easily check its hash – non-mining users can verify that a block is valid without expending much computational power.
So far,so good. But what if you try to cheat? What’s to stop you from putting a bunch of fraudulent transactions into the block and producing a valid hash?
When you create a transaction,you sign it. Anyone on the network can compare your signature with your public key,and check whether they match. They’ll also check if you can actually spend your funds and that the sum of your inputs is higher than the sum of your outputs(i.e.,that you’re not spending more than you have).
“ Proof of Stake does have some benefits over Proof of Work. The most notable one is the smaller carbon footprint – since there’s no need for high-powered mining farms in PoS,the electricity consumed is only a fraction of that consumed in PoW. ”
Proof of Work vs. Proof of Stake
There are many consensus algorithms,but one of the most highly-anticipated ones is Proof of Stake(PoS). The concept dates back to 2011,and has been implemented in some smaller protocols. But it has yet to see adoption in any of the big blockchains.
In Proof of Stake systems,miners are replaced with validators. There’s no mining involved and no race to guess hashes. Instead,users are randomly selected – if they’re picked,they must propose(or “forge”) a block. If the block is valid,they’ll receive a reward made up of the fees from the block’s transactions.
Closing thoughts
Proof of Work was the original solution to the double-spend problem and has proven to be reliable and secure. Bitcoin proved that we don’t need centralized entities to prevent the same funds from being spent twice. With clever use of cryptography,hash functions,and game theory,participants in a decentralized environment can agree on the state of a financial database.
Not just any user can be selected,though – the protocol chooses them based on a number of factors. To be eligible,participants must lock up a stake,which is a predetermined amount of the blockchain’s native currency.
ReplyThe stake works like bail:just as defendants put up a large sum of money to disincentivize them from skipping trial,validators lock up a stake to disincentivize cheating.
ReplyThat said,it has nowhere near the track record of PoW. Although it could be perceived as wasteful,mining is the only consensus algorithm that’s proven itself at scale.
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