What is DPoS
The Delegated proof of stake (DPoS) is a consensus algorithm built by a cryptocurrency enthusiast and a software developer Daniel Larimer in the year 2017 with the sole aim of improving some features its predecessor i.e the Proof of Stake had, the Delegated Proof of stake had a more efficient way of selecting witnesses who are responsible for validating blocks and approving transactions. In a nutshell, we could say the DPoS is a Consensus algorithm where the participants (those holding the blockchain's cryptocurrency in the blockchain) are allowed to vote and elect their witnesses who are in turn responsible for validating new blocks and earning rewards.
In the delegated proof of stake, the more assets a holder has the more influence his vote has, This witnesses are usually 21+ in number and are all expected to have a certain minimum amount of crypto assets which they will accumulate more of if their duties are well executed but will be punished or charged if they fail to fulfill their delegated duties. The delegated Proof of stake gave many better alternatives to the previous consensus mechanism that was practiced i.e the Proof of Work
HOW IT FUNCTIONS
Its simply follows a certain routine which it uses to maintain and manage the blockchain, Stakeholders are expected to Vote their preferred witnesses between 20-100 every new block, these delegates receive the transfer fee and in turn validate transactions and mint new blocks and it circles back again
ADVANTAGES OF DPoS
- Energy Efficient
Consensus mechanisms like the Proof of work are known for their huge amount of power consumption by miners and their farms, miners require lots f fast power-consuming supercomputers to mine, and with the number of farms available the PoW takes a lot of energy. The DPoS does not require miners cause blocks are not mined but minted hence only Validators hence its energy efficient
- COST-EFFICIENT
The DPoS has a considerably low amount of transaction fee charges since validators are responsible for validating transactions and rewards are distributed to them they don't require an extra fee to approve your transaction
- SCALABLE
Due to the low amount of competition in minting blocks and powerful nodes contributing to the blockchain the TPS is very high due to the increased size of bock size
DISADVANTAGES OF DPoS
- ANONYMITY
Its no news that the participant in most blockchain DPoS included keeps users anonymous although transactions are published publicly the sender and the recipients are anonymous so in the case of theft or fraud one can easily get away with stolen assets as no data about the person personality is required before he can participate in the blockchain
- DEMOCRATIC
This may not really seem like a problem in this context, the more assets an individual has staked or locked away in the pool the more influence he has in the blockchain so technically the whales in the blockchain have a very big upper hand over those with little amount licked away in the pool
- POWER
Lots of power is giving to the witness nodes and of course, it is possible for them to cheat by approving transactions in the wrong proportion although they will be caught but it is still a possibility
CONCLUSION
They DPoS is one of the most scalable and reliable consensus mechanism that I assume someday in the nearest futures will make all previous consensus mechanisms obsolete, because of its eco friendly system of managing its blockchain and reliability of its operations