Publication Type

Journal Article

Version

publishedVersion

Publication Date

6-2022

Abstract

Reaching consensus-a macroscopic state where the system constituents display the same microscopic state-is a necessity in multiple complex socio-technical and techno-economic systems: their correct functioning ultimately depends on it. In many distributed systems-of which blockchain-based applications are a paradigmatic example-the process of consensus formation is crucial not only for the emergence of a leading majority but for the very functioning of the system. We build a minimalistic network model of consensus formation on blockchain systems for quantifying how central nodes-with respect to their average distance to others-can leverage on their position to obtain competitive advantage in the consensus process. We show that in a wide range of network topologies, the probability of forming a majority can significantly increase depending on the centrality of nodes that initiate the spreading. Further, we study the role that network topology plays on the consensus process: we show that central nodes in scale-free networks can win consensus in the network even if they broadcast states significantly later than peripheral ones.

Keywords

Network theory, Distributed systems, Consensus formation

Discipline

Numerical Analysis and Scientific Computing | Operations Research, Systems Engineering and Industrial Engineering | Theory and Algorithms

Publication

EPJ Data Science

Volume

11

Issue

1

First Page

1

Last Page

12

Identifier

10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00347-5

Publisher

SpringerOpen

Copyright Owner and License

Authors-CC-BY

Creative Commons License

Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 3.0 License.

Additional URL

https://doi.org/10.1140/epjds/s13688-022-00347-5

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