Liveness consistency in distributed systems, including blockchains, refers to the dual guarantee that the network continues to process transactions and reach consensus (liveness), while all honest nodes maintain an agreement on the order and state of transactions (consistency). Liveness ensures progress, meaning new blocks are continuously added. Consistency ensures that all participants observe the same, correct history of events. Achieving both simultaneously under adverse conditions is a significant challenge.
Context
The state of liveness consistency is a fundamental concern in the design and operation of robust blockchain protocols, particularly during network partitions or attacks. A key debate involves the CAP theorem, which suggests that a distributed system cannot simultaneously guarantee consistency, availability, and partition tolerance. Critical future developments focus on designing consensus algorithms that optimize for specific trade-offs, often prioritizing strong consistency or eventual consistency alongside high availability, depending on the application’s requirements.
A new EAAC property formally quantifies the economic security of consensus, proving that targeted slashing is only possible under strong synchronous network assumptions.
We use cookies to personalize content and marketing, and to analyze our traffic. This helps us maintain the quality of our free resources. manage your preferences below.
Detailed Cookie Preferences
This helps support our free resources through personalized marketing efforts and promotions.
Analytics cookies help us understand how visitors interact with our website, improving user experience and website performance.
Personalization cookies enable us to customize the content and features of our site based on your interactions, offering a more tailored experience.
