Advanced Consensus Protocols

Consensus protocols form the backbone of any blockchain network by ensuring that all nodes in the network agree on its current state. Ethereum currently uses the Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism. Although PoW protocol is well tested and ensures a high level of security, it suffers from many issues, including low throughput, high resource consumption, and susceptibility to 51% attack. These issues can be mitigated to an extent by adopting more advanced consensus protocols like Proof of Stake (PoS) or DPoS, which are faster and more energy-efficient. Several new layer 1 blockchains have already adopted these advanced protocols, while some of the older ones are in the process of transitioning from legacy consensus mechanisms to newer ones [3].