What makes a blockchain work ... | Stakely OKX Feed

What makes a blockchain work without bosses, without censorship, and permissionless? 🤔 If you're new to crypto, this thread is for you 👌 We’ll break down the layers of a blockchain, with a spotlight on the most critical one: the consensus layer 👇

💡 First things first: a blockchain is way more than a digital ledger It’s made of stacked layers, like a tech lasagna 🍝 Each layer plays a key role in the network’s security, decentralization, and performance

These layers are: ✅ Layer 0: Infra (hardware + nodes) ✅ Data layer: the ledger (blocks, hashes) ✅ Network layer: P2P comms ✅ Consensus layer 💡 ✅ Execution layer: rules & contracts ✅ Application layer: dApps, wallets

📌 Among all, the consensus layer is the soul of the system It’s what lets all nodes agree on which transactions are valid, without trusting each other Without it, a blockchain just doesn’t work

So... what is consensus? 🤔 It’s the process that lets nodes agree on the valid state of the network The goal is to: ✅ Keep a single source of truth ✅ Incentivize honest behavior ✅ Prevent attacks (double-spend, forks, etc)

You’ll notice different chains use different consensus models That’s because there’s more than one, and each comes with tradeoffs Let’s go over the big ones 👇

1. Proof-of-Work (PoW) ⭢ Used by Bitcoin ✅ Very secure ✅ Highly decentralized But... ❌ Energy hungry ❌ Slow + expensive ⚙️ Miners solve puzzles. The one who works the hardest gets to add the next block

2. Proof-of-Stake (PoS) ⭢ Used by @ethereum since 2022 ✅ Efficient + eco-friendly ✅ Scalable But... ❌ Risk of power concentration ⚙️ Validators stake tokens. The more you stake, the more chances to propose blocks

@ethereum 3. Delegated PoS (DPoS) ⭢ Example: EOS, TRON ✅ Fast + efficient ✅ Built-in governance But... ❌ Cartel risk ❌ Less decentralized ⚙️ Users vote for a few delegates to validate on their behalf

@ethereum 4. Proof-of-History (PoH) ⭢ Used by @solana ✅ Ultra-fast (thousands of TPS) ✅ Precise time ordering But... ❌ Needs beefy hardware ❌ More centralized ⚙️ It doesn’t replace PoS, it complements it. PoH timestamps transactions verifiably

@ethereum @solana 5. Proof-of-Authority (PoA) ⭢ Popular in private chains ✅ Fast + reliable ✅ Low energy use But... ❌ Highly centralized ❌ Requires trust in public identities ⚙️ Works well for enterprise or government blockchains

@ethereum @solana 💡 Other, lesser-known models: ⭢ Proof-of-Burn (PoB): burn tokens to validate ⭢ Proof-of-Capacity (PoC): use storage space ⭢ Proof-of-Elapsed Time (PoET): wait random time ⭢ Proof-of-Importance (PoI): based on user network activity

@ethereum @solana 🧠 Bottom line: There’s no “perfect” consensus mechanism It’s always a tradeoff between: 🔒 Security 📈 Scalability 🌐 Decentralization Each chain chooses based on its goals

@ethereum @solana If you understand consensus, you understand how blockchains work 💡 It’s the nervous system of decentralized networks Now that you know... What’s your favorite consensus mechanism and why? 🤔

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