Benefits of Proof of Weight (PoW)
- Scalability: The major advantage of the proof-of-weight consensus mechanism is that it is highly customizable, and it is capable to scale it to a great number of users. The Proof of Weight system enables the creation of committees that consists of random network users who are assigned ‘weights’ according to the consensus protocol.
- Security: Proof of Weight (PoW) also provides some level of centralization which maintains a secure and overall decentralized network.
- Risk of Fork: The proof of Weight (PoW) mechanism strives to achieve consensus without any risk of a new fork as it considers relatively weighted value based on any weighted factors rather than just coins held by the node.
- Less resource intensive and highly scalable: Proof of Weight (PoW) provides a great solution to reach consensus without being resource-intensive or requiring complex mechanisms. It allows the network to reach consensus more quickly thus allowing faster processing of transactions.
Proof of Weight (PoW) Consensus Mechanism in Blockchain
A blockchain is a distributed ledger in which a record of transactions made in Bitcoin, or another cryptocurrency is maintained across several computers that are linked in a peer-to-peer network. The Blockchain ledger is immutable, decentralized, digitized, secure, traceable, and scalable and generates a great sense of trust by incorporating a consensus algorithm. Proof of Weight is a blockchain-based consensus mechanism that gives users a weight based on how much cryptocurrency they are holding. Currently, there are many consensus mechanisms in use but, the most popular of these is Proof of Work (PoW) and Proof of Stake (PoS) mechanisms.
Proof-of-work and proof-of-stake variations remain the most widely used mechanisms for reaching consensus but come with some limitations. Proof of Stake gives an unfair advantage to the rich nodes as more the coins they own more they can earn while Proof of Work consumes a lot of electricity and requires a complex hardware setup. As a result, Proof of Weight has been introduced recently and is different from the Proof of Work and Proof of Stake mechanism.