Definition ∞ Byzantine failures describe any arbitrary, malicious, or unpredicted behavior of a node within a distributed system. These failures extend beyond simple crashes to include nodes sending contradictory or deceptive information to different parts of the network. Such behavior poses a significant challenge to achieving agreement among honest participants. This concept is central to understanding the resilience requirements of decentralized systems.
Context ∞ Mitigating Byzantine failures is a primary concern in blockchain protocol design, driving the development of Byzantine Fault Tolerant (BFT) consensus algorithms. The practical threshold for tolerating malicious nodes without compromising system integrity is a continuous discussion point. Advancements in BFT research directly impact the security and decentralization properties reported in crypto news.
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