Randomized Committee Selection

Definition ∞ Randomized committee selection is a process used in some blockchain protocols to randomly choose a subset of validators or nodes to form a committee responsible for specific tasks. This technique significantly enhances security by making it computationally infeasible for adversaries to predict or corrupt a majority of committee members. It promotes decentralization and reduces the risk of collusion by frequently reshuffling participants. This approach fortifies the integrity of consensus.
Context ∞ News and technical discussions frequently address randomized committee selection in the context of proof-of-stake blockchains aiming for high scalability and security. Protocols like Ethereum 2.0 and various sharding designs leverage this method to distribute validation work and protect against attacks. Improvements in the randomness generation and selection processes are ongoing, directly impacting the reliability and trustworthiness of these networks.