Recently, the Nebulas blockchain project which was founded in 2017 completed a milestone in its development by formalizing the specific details of its original and unique consensus algorithm entitled Proof of Devotion [PoD].
Led by a long-time believer and leader in the blockchain space, the Nebulas ecosystem was created for the goal of expanding the utilization of blockchain technology while enabling all who are part of the ecosystem to receive value directly via decentralization and unique on-chain mechanisms, thereby creating a true Autonomous Metanet.
The entire blockchain ecosystem is rapidly evolving both technologically and philosophically, and with this evolution, many who participate in the ecosystem – even if it’s just holding an asset are not receiving any incentive for their devotion to the project. While many may wonder how devotion can be measured within a blockchain ecosystem, it is in fact the hidden force behind most digital assets including Bitcoin and Ethereum.
Some in the blockchain landscape believe that only the few should receive direct value from the technology, but Nebulas is taking an alternate approach by incentivizing all who are willing to show some level of devotion to the Nebulas ecosystem. In fact, the greater the devotion, the more value there is to gain!
What is Proof of Devotion [PoD]
Nebulas’ new consensus algorithm is partially based on the well understood and mature Delegated Proof of Stake [DPoS] consensus algorithm but while most projects who depend on this powerful consensus algorithm, authority is usually constrained within a small portion of the community allowing for governance manipulation and ultimately corrupting the foundation of the blockchain and suppressing those within the ecosystem.
Instead of suppressing the devotion of many within an ecosystem, Nebulas has defined devotion in a practical and methodical approach which encourages and incentivizes all those who can verifiably show their devotion to the ecosystem via a public ledger. Big or small, Nebulas truly believes everyone has a fundamental right to obtain value from decentralization.
How nodes are selected
While true that consensus algorithms such as DPoS require a relatively small consensus pool, Nebulas approached this subject with the intent to create a network that includes rather than excludes. To accomplish this, Nebulas is relying on multiple, innovative factors.
While the obvious factors include a fully operational server and placing Nebulas’ native asset NAS in a collateral account to deter bad actors, one of the more community driven requirements is the pledging of the Smart Asset entitled NAX. This unique Smart Asset is attainable by all who hold NAS and chooses to stake them via a fully decentralized method. This innovative Decentralized Staking [dStaking] method bypasses the custodial holding requirements of other staking methods thereby making dStaking immune to security risks and increases liquidity.
Any NAX received via dStaking can be held, traded or used to pledge their support to a node that is operated by a community member. As a result, this establishes a new level of community cooperation where for example, if a community member needs assistance meeting the consensus node requirements, fellow community members can pledge NAX to their node – the more NAX pledged to a node, the more likely it is to be chosen to carry out the duties of the consensus nodes.
In addition, the node operator can optionally show their gratitude to supportive community members by sharing the consensus node incentive [NAS].It’s a mutually beneficial scenario for all within the community while strengthening cooperative relationships.
In addition, nodes are re-elected every 210 blocks [approximately every 52 minutes] via a smart contract running on the Nebulas blockchain that reviews the statistics of all candidate nodes including community support rate and the stability/participation of the node. As a result, this allows for significantly more nodes to participate in the consensus process.
All who meet the minimum requirements can be a candidate for a PoD node via a public, decentralized smart contract operated algorithm.
What are the duties of nodes
All decentralized blockchain projects require a pool of hardware that is ready to validate transactions and create new blocks but this is just one duty for a Nebulas PoD node.
Blockchain governance is a difficult problem to tackle and in many cases, power is once again given to a small, centralized group that may not have the best interest of the entire ecosystem at heart. An additional issue with most blockchain governance programs is a low participation rate of the community.
Nebulas aims to resolve these two issues via the pool of PoD candidate nodes. All consensus nodes that have been operating consistently and fairly for a period of time can be selected as a governance node. In total, 51 nodes will be selected at regular intervals based on their performance while being a consensus node.
Simply put, consensus nodes who perform the best will be chosen as governance nodes and will vote on matters such as community project funding [projects listed on go.nebulas], enforcing penalties for nodes that may have attempted to manipulate the Nebulas blockchain and even the management of community funds.
To entice nodes to participate in the governance process, they will be further incentivized. However, if they fail to perform their duties as a governance node, this opportunity will be revoked for a certain amount of time to give others the opportunity to participate.
The future of PoD and how to take part
Like all great innovations, it takes time, testing and validation to verify the proper functionality of a concept. Luckily, many components of this grand innovation are already in place and the community will not have to wait long to participate.
- By early January of 2020, this new consensus mechanism will be released on the Nebulas testnet via an incentivized test program.
- By the end of January 2020, it will go live on the Nebulas mainnet via an invite only program to those who have already been involved in the Nebulas ecosystem including business entities and community members.
- By the end of March, 2020, the Nebulas PoD node program will be available to all within the blockchain community; on-chain governance will be performed by the end of March and every month thereforth.
Sounds interesting? We think so
Nebulas believes that this well thought out consensus model will further advance the future of blockchain innovation, community participation and the creation of the Autonomous Metanet. We openly welcome all to learn more, give us valuable feedback and grow our ecosystem together!
Learn more about the Nebulas PoD Node Decentralization Strategy today at website or join us on our community forum.
Disclaimer: This a paid post, and should not be treated as news/advice.
