Proof of Work Explained
As the cryptocurrency space continues to evolve at an accelerated pace, experimentation and implementation of a variety of consensus models is inevitable. Proof of Authority (PoA) consensus is not necessarily a new consensus mechanism (has been around since March 2017), but has been implemented in some interesting platforms as a compromise between consensus models targeting complete decentralization and more efficient, centralized models. First, PoA was proposed by a group of developers in March 2017 (the term was coined by Gavin Wood) as a blockchain based on the Ethereum protocol. It was developed primarily as a solution to the problem of spam attacks on Ethereum’s Ropsten test network. The new network was named Kovan and is a primary test network available to all Ethereum users today. PoA consensus is essentially an optimized Proof of Stake model that leverages identity as the form of stake rather than actually staking tokens. The identity is ...