BFT Systems

Definition ∞ BFT Systems are distributed computing systems designed to tolerate Byzantine faults, meaning they can function correctly even if some components behave maliciously or arbitrarily. These systems achieve consensus among nodes despite the presence of faulty or dishonest actors. Practical Byzantine Fault Tolerance is a well-known algorithm used to secure such distributed networks. This resilience is paramount for maintaining data integrity and operational continuity in untrustworthy environments.
Context ∞ BFT systems are central to many modern proof-of-stake blockchains and distributed ledger technologies, ensuring transaction validity and network security. A key discussion revolves around balancing their strong fault tolerance with scalability limitations in large, permissionless networks. Ongoing research seeks to improve the efficiency and throughput of BFT consensus mechanisms to support broader application.