Honest Majority Avoidance

Definition ∞ Honest Majority Avoidance is a design principle in decentralized systems, particularly consensus mechanisms, where the security and integrity of the network do not solely rely on the assumption of a majority of participants being honest. Instead, these systems aim to maintain functionality and prevent malicious actions even if a significant portion, though not a majority, of participants act dishonestly. This principle enhances robustness against various attack vectors. It seeks to minimize trust assumptions within the network architecture.
Context ∞ News often discusses Honest Majority Avoidance in the context of advanced blockchain consensus algorithms and their resilience against Sybil attacks or cartel formation. This principle is critical for ensuring the long-term decentralization and censorship resistance of digital asset networks. Debates frequently involve the practical thresholds for malicious actors that a system can tolerate while remaining secure. Future research and development are focused on creating more sophisticated consensus models that can operate securely with even lower honesty assumptions among participants.