During the writing of this article, we are in full confinement and this allowed me to become aware of the passage of time ... Do not blame me for this little sought-after catch which will serve to introduce the latest consensus technique of our series of articles which will be… The Proof Of Elapsed Time!
Back to Silicon Valley !
Before talking about the method itself, let's go back to its origins. The microchip giant, Intel, developed in 2016 Software Guard Extension (SGX), a tool for creating encrypted “enclaves”. Translation: SGX will create secure and separate areas, where your data will be stored, cannot be modified, and will be encrypted. Concretely, SGX will do 2 things:
- A component will attest that the code compiled in the enclave has been carried out correctly in a trusted environment . This attestation will be proof that the code is authentic for outside actors.
- The computer enclave in which the code is located cannot be modified by third-party applications, and does not interact with other storage spaces. This isolation allows, among other things, to preserve the integrity of the code .
But then, why am I talking to you about this?
Tick tock, tick tock, watch the White Rabbit…
Now you know the simplified operation of SGX , let's see how to apply it to Proof Of Elapsed Time . The POET has a relatively simple operation, here no need for exorbitant computing power or to send your bitcoins to an address without owner, you just have to… wait.
When you want to participate in a blockchain using POET, you will download the code and send the certificate from SGX to certify that the code you are going to use is the original, used by the other members of the network. Then it works like a lottery : each node is assigned a duration defined randomly by the algorithm . The node that has its countdown ending first will send the proof to the rest of the network, and can then validate the block.
For now, we have only applied the first aspect of SGX; the second is to avoid fraud . What prevents the user from giving himself a deliberately lower time to validate the block is that he simply cannot modify the code - remember the enclave system .
Today, the first use of POET is within the Hyperledger Sawtooth tool . This branch of Hyperledger is mainly used by projects wishing to create their own blockchain - which will in reality be more of a distributed register , since the administrator decides who has access or not to the information.
It is therefore with this last article that our series on consensus methods ends. These alternatives have the ambition to offer validation processes that consume less energy than the traditional Proof Of Work; but keep in mind that they are not perfect either.
Indeed, we can attribute faults to each of them. In this case, POET has an incentive mechanism which is unlikely to attract “minors” due to its random nature . Of course, we only provide our computer, but is it profitable?
The proof of burn and the proof of transfer are characterized by the direct destruction of tokens (with more staking for the POX), and as in a giant lottery, the more tickets you buy, the more chance you have to win…
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