Minimal Marginal Work

Definition ∞ Minimal marginal work describes the principle that each additional unit of computation or validation in a system requires only a negligible increase in resources. This concept aims to optimize efficiency by ensuring that extending the system’s operations adds very little extra processing burden. It is central to highly scalable designs. This design philosophy reduces resource consumption as a system grows.
Context ∞ Minimal marginal work is a design objective for next-generation blockchain protocols and decentralized applications, particularly those leveraging zero-knowledge proofs and advanced consensus mechanisms. Achieving this reduces the environmental impact and operational costs associated with network growth. It represents a key factor in sustainable blockchain development.