Federated Byzantine Agreement

Definition ∞ Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA) is a class of consensus algorithms used in distributed systems, notably by the Stellar blockchain. Unlike traditional Byzantine Fault Tolerance, FBA allows participants to choose who they trust to validate transactions, rather than requiring a global agreement on all validators. This structure creates overlapping “quorum slices” where each node decides its own trust relationships. It offers flexibility and scalability while maintaining security against malicious actors.
Context ∞ News about FBA often concerns its application in specific blockchain networks like Stellar, highlighting its advantages in terms of decentralization and transaction speed. The concept is central to understanding how certain networks achieve consensus without relying on proof-of-work or proof-of-stake. Debates sometimes question the practical implications of trust relationships and potential for centralization within the federated structure.