Definition ∞ Quadratic message complexity describes a system where the communication overhead scales with the square of the number of participants. In distributed networks, this means that as more nodes join, the number of messages required for consensus or coordination increases significantly, potentially hindering scalability. Such complexity can lead to bottlenecks and higher latency, especially in large-scale blockchain systems. Protocols with quadratic message complexity often face challenges in maintaining efficiency with a growing participant base.
Context ∞ Overcoming quadratic message complexity is a significant challenge in designing scalable blockchain and distributed ledger technologies. News in the technical crypto space often reports on new consensus algorithms or network architectures that aim to reduce this complexity to linear or sub-quadratic levels. Solutions like sharding or specialized communication protocols are frequently discussed as ways to address this fundamental scaling limitation.
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