Distributed Consensus

Distributed Consensus is a key principle of decentralization. It refers to the process by which a network of distributed nodes, or participants, reach a consensus or agreement on the state of the network or the validity of a transaction. This allows for the creation of a trusted, shared record of transactions without the need for a central authority or intermediary.

In a decentralized system, each node in the network maintains a copy of the ledger, or record of transactions, and participates in the consensus process. This ensures that the ledger is distributed and redundant, making it resistant to tampering or corruption.

The use of distributed consensus allows for trust to be established in a decentralized system without relying on a central authority. This can make decentralized systems more secure, transparent, and efficient than traditional centralized systems. Proof-of-Work (PoW) and Proof-of-Stake (PoS) are two popular examples of distributed consensus mechanisms used to validate transactions on a blockchain.