A term used to describe the situation of a single strategy that requires consensusConsensus is what allows a distributed system (like the blockchain) to function as a decentralized peer-to-peer system without the need... Read More from all members within a group who cannot be trusted or verified.
For example, Imagine a city besieged and surrounded by the Byzantine army led by 5 different generals. All 5 generals surrounding the city have to formulate an attack plan and in its simplest form, it is merely between attacking and retreating. The generals are far apart from one another, and the only means of communication is via messengers (who may be spies or be killed/replaced by enemy messengers). To further complicate matters, some generals may be malicious and can tamper with the votes. Suppose the generals now cast votes to decide whether to attack or retreat and thus also inform the rest of their decision at the same time. This however presents a problem – if any of the generals are malicious/messenger gets replaced, some generals may be tricked into attacking. So, how can the Byzantine Generals ensure that their votes cannot be tampered with?
This problem is analogous to that of a decentralizedDecentralization, an aspect of blockchain technology, facilitates power or authority distribution among individuals, groups, or institutions. A decentralized structure allows... Read More peer-to-peer systemA peer-to-peer (P2P) system is a P2P network that works together to share resources and achieve a shared purpose. In... Read More – the challenge is to ensure that all nodes (generals) are looking at information (votes) that are valid and not tampered with.
