IOTA’s recent blog post delves into the important roles of Validators and committees within its network. The post explains that IOTA 2.0 is equipped to handle adversarial validators, which can potentially lead to adversarial misbehavior.
Validators have a critical role in maintaining the blockchain network. They directly contribute to the progress of the ledger and its security in exchange for a reward. In IOTA 2.0, validators are nodes that issue validation blocks to help the network agree on the ledger state and the set of valid blocks in the Tangle.
The blog post emphasizes that IOTA 2.0 relies on Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) to secure its network. Each epoch, a committee selection procedure determines a subset of validators to carry out the consensus protocol. These validators, known as committee members, play a crucial role in preventing double-spending and malicious manipulation of consensus. They also approve blocks with transactions promptly to ensure the efficient progress of the ledger and reduce the number of blocks needed for consensus. In addition, this validation process promotes decentralized democracy.
What sets IOTA 2.0 apart is that there is no minimum stake requirement to become a validator, allowing for easy participation by many nodes. Users can also participate implicitly by delegating their stake to a trusted validator, increasing their chances of being elected to the committee. This inclusivity promotes a more democratic validation process.
The blog post further highlights the responsibilities of validators, which primarily involve issuing validation blocks. However, these blocks must meet certain properties to provide quality services. The time stamp difference between consecutive validation blocks should not exceed a specified limit. The epoch committee members also utilize a tip selection algorithm with an increased number of parents, as well as the Regular Committing Slot.
It is important to align the opinions expressed in validation blocks with the preferred reality of the block issuer. For example, a block should not represent a vote for two conflicting transactions. The consensus protocol does not count votes that go against this rule.
Adversarial misbehavior is a possibility in IOTA 2.0 due to its handling of adversarial validators. This can include manipulation of the slot commitment chain, competing chains, incorrect chain extensions, or censoring valid blocks. However, honest validators will still reference these valid blocks, making it difficult for adversarial validators to successfully censor them.
As of now, IOTA is trading at $0.148265 and has experienced a 3% surge in the last 24 hours.
For more information about IOTA and its validator and committee system, check out the blog post.