Spectrum of Decentralization: The Gradients of Crypto

This episode we discuss several consensus models, a bit of how they work, but more importantly how consensus models contribute to a projects decentralization and why that matters. Proof of work, and proof of stake are two primary examples of consensus models, but each have tradeoffs. Nodes can be organized in 3 ways, centralized, distributed, and decentralized. There are some negative effects to distributed networks. Upgrading the network can be a challenge, because there is no way to enforce all nodes upgrade to the latest version. Governance of the network is also challenge, that different projects are working to solve. Although centralized services can become an attack vector for hackers, they tend to be faster due to their network architecture. We touch on the power consumption of Bitcoin, and how that power is traded for the security of the network, then jump into proof of stake and how it secures the network from double spend using a different process. Links Mentioned during the show: Decentralized Graph - https://medium.com/@VitalikButerin/the-meaning-of-decentralization-a0c92b76a274 bit torrent article - break rules - https://medium.com/@simonhmorris/if-youre-not-breaking-rules-you-re-doing-it-wrong-bittorrent-lessons-for-crypto-2-of-4-72c68227fe69 Arjun Article - https://medium.com/@arjunblj/crypto-theses-for-2019-dd20cb7f9895 http://blockbrothers.org https://twitter.com/blockbrosorg https://www.instagram.com/blockbrosorg https://soundcloud.com/blockbrosorg