Dusk Network is supported by the Separate Byzantine Agreement (SBA) consensus protocol, considered an improvement over the underlying proof-of-stake (PoS) mechanism. It combines decentralized features such as separate stake amounts, cryptographic random sorting, and a tracking module to increase the likelihood of selecting good nodes.
An interesting feature of the SBA protocol is that once a certificate is created, it cannot be revoked. This is because voting rights continuously shift across all validators in the Dusk Network, ensuring that every transaction is settled quickly within less than 10 seconds.
Instead of using computational power, validators on Dusk Network lock their DUSK tokens. In return, they can vote on blocks that can be added to the blockchain. Voting is divided into three stages: block creation, reduction, and approval.
Block creation involves determining the round leader and proposing a candidate block. After that, block reduction is performed to reach agreement on the candidate block, and block agreement finalizes the consensus round to start a new consensus round, given that block reduction has been successful.
Validator Dusk Network works together to approve certain blocks that they can create certificates for, proving that the blocks do not violate any rules. This is in contrast to the layering of blocks on the blockchain after each transaction, just like Bitcoin. This approach forms the foundation of the Dusk Network project.
