Honest Majority

Definition ∞ An honest majority refers to a fundamental assumption in many distributed consensus protocols, particularly in Byzantine Fault Tolerant systems. It posits that more than two-thirds of the network participants are behaving honestly and following the protocol rules. This condition is necessary to ensure the network can reach agreement and operate correctly, even in the presence of malicious actors. The security of the system relies on this majority.
Context ∞ The concept of an honest majority is a critical security parameter in blockchain design and is frequently referenced in discussions about network decentralization and attack vectors. Any news regarding potential 51% attacks or Sybil attacks directly relates to the integrity of the honest majority assumption. Maintaining a robust honest majority is essential for the long-term security and reliability of a decentralized ledger.

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→Atomic Broadcast Protocol

→Disagreement Attack

→Honest Majority

Rational Consensus Protocol Secures Atomic Broadcast against Economic Adversaries

A new protocol, pRFT, establishes accountability in rational fault tolerance, proving consensus impossibility for economic liveness attacks.

→Verifiable Matrix Multiplication

→Computational Complexity

→Publicly Verifiable

Distributed Verifiable Computation Secures Input Privacy and Fault Tolerance

A new distributed verifiable computation primitive guarantees input privacy and result recovery against colluding workers using cryptographic encoding.

A complex, multifaceted blue and clear geometric structure dominates, suggesting an intricate blockchain architecture. A textured, translucent substance flows over its upper left edge, representing a data stream or raw ledger entries entering the system. Within the transparent blue framework, smaller, precise cryptographic primitives and a spherical element, potentially a governance token, are visible. The interplay of light and shadow highlights the system's immutability and cryptographic security, illustrating the secure processing of digital assets within a decentralized network.

→Game-Theory

→Decentralized Security

→Block Production

Game Theory Secures Verifiable Secret Sharing against Rational Collusion

A new mechanism design framework embeds a parameterized payment rule into Verifiable Secret Sharing, strategically disincentivizing rational collusion for enhanced decentralized security.

A sleek, white, spherical DLT core with a luminous blue ring serves as the central processing unit, symbolizing an advanced oracle node or smart contract engine. This core is securely housed within a robust, modular framework constructed from interlocking grey components and vibrant, translucent blue crystalline structures. These elements represent distributed network nodes and cryptographic primitives, actively facilitating transaction validation and ensuring the integrity of the immutable ledger through a proof-of-stake consensus mechanism. The glowing blue signifies active data flow and secure multi-party computation.

→Verifiable Random Functions

→Consensus Protocols

→Committee Selection

Deterministic Bounds Secure Committee Selection, Strengthening Decentralization and Scalability

By replacing probabilistic committee selection with deterministic bounds, this new sortition mechanism guarantees an honest majority, enhancing consensus security and network scalability.

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→Anchor Election

→Digital Signatures

→Communication Complexity

DAG-Based BFT Protocol Achieves Optimal Latency without Common Primitives

This novel DAG-based BFT protocol achieves optimal three-round latency by eliminating reliable broadcast and common coin primitives, paving the way for hyper-efficient decentralized systems.

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→Protocol Efficiency

→Economic Security

→On-Chain Transactions

Financial Fairness Redefines Security for On-Chain Multi-Party Computation

Research introduces Financial Fairness, a new property for cryptographic penalty protocols, ensuring equal net present cost for all honest participants to secure economic rigor.

The image showcases a complex digital backbone, featuring intertwined dark blue conduits enveloped by intricate silver and blue circuit board segments. These components, resembling specialized ASIC mining hardware and hardware wallets, illustrate a robust decentralized network infrastructure. The detailed circuitry, with its dense patterns, suggests the immense computational power required for cryptographic hashing and secure transaction processing within a distributed ledger technology. This visual metaphor encapsulates the intricate interplay of physical and digital elements underpinning modern blockchain protocols.

→Strategic Player

→Mechanism Design

→Transaction Fee

Multi-Party Computation Enables Fairer Incentive-Compatible Transaction Fee Mechanisms

Cryptography, via Multi-Party Computation among block producers, circumvents game-theoretic impossibility results to design non-trivial, incentive-compatible fee mechanisms.

A detailed close-up reveals a sophisticated metallic distributed ledger technology mechanism, partially enveloped by a vibrant blue, porous, foamy substance. This intricate protocol layer interaction highlights the dynamic interplay within a blockchain ecosystem. The foam, suggestive of digital asset liquidity or layer-2 scaling solutions, appears to integrate with the core on-chain infrastructure. Visible through the foamy network are polished metallic components, hinting at the precision of smart contract execution and consensus mechanism operations. This abstract depiction underscores the robust and interconnected nature of Web3 infrastructure.

→Information-Theoretic Security

→Lightweight Cryptography