An Extensive Survey on Consensus Mechanisms for Blockchain Technology

Abstract

Blockchain technology is a cryptographic technique that enables users to maintain their data in a decentral way with a non-editable form without an arbitrator. Originally motivated from the underlying platform of bitcoin cryptocurrency, researchers found blockchain to be very useful in many application domains, including smart contracts, insurance, banking, finance, and many other sectors. As multiple stakeholders try to add a block (containing the data or transactions) into the chain, there is a need for a mechanism to come to an agreement on which stakeholder’s block should be added. Such a mechanism is known as consensus mechanism which is a primary factor of significance because it decides the correctness of data to be added as well as trustworthiness of the node which is attempting to add the block. An efficient consensus mechanism achieves security, higher precision, and better performance. In this research, we aim to study various consensus mechanisms in blockchain technology with their strengths and challenges. We discuss factors affecting the consensus mechanism and provide our suggestions for drafting an effective consensus mechanism. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2021