PoW

Phonetic: /ˈpruːf əv wɜrk/, /ˌpiː oʊ ˈdʌbəljuː/

Part of Speech: noun

Category: To be determined

Initialism; Proof of Work.A consensus mechanism in which each block is ‘mined’ by one of the nodes, or a group of nodes, on the network. The computational process involved in committing a series of transactions into a block on the network, known as ‘hashing a block’, is technically quite simple, and therefore subject to attack. Under PoW, each miner must solve a math problem to find a set, difficult variable in order to be able to propose their block to the network as the next to be ‘mined’. In effect, the process of hashing each block becomes a competition. This addition of solving for a target increases the difficulty of successfully hashing each block, and consequently the security of the network. For each hashed block, the overall process of hashing will have taken some time and computational effort. Thus, a hashed block is considered Proof of Work, and the miner that successfully hashes the block first receives a reward, in the form of cryptocurrency. PoW is singificantly more energy-intensive than other consensus mechanisms, such as Proof of Stake.

Definition source: Mapachurro probably wrote this.

Sample sentence

N/A

Additional definitions

No additional definitions found. Have another? Submit it!

Extended definition

No extended definition. ...yet

This word came from... the ether

Date first recorded: Unknown

Commentary

No commentary on this. ...yet

Does this need to be better?

This glossary only gets good if we all complain. If you have a suggestion, open an issue on this project's GitHub repo.