The Mainchain: A Secure Foundation for the Ecosystem
The Elastos mainchain is a completely open-source and sovereign blockchain protocol based on Bitcoin that provides cryptographic proofs and a secure foundation for the ecosystem.
Elastic Consensus
The mainchain leverages a combination of three consensus mechanisms to ensure robust transaction execution:
Auxiliary Proof of Work
Auxiliary Proof of Work (AuXPoW) is a mechanisn wherein Bitcoin miners compete to produce blocks for the Elastos mainchain in return for ELA. The security benefits of Bitcoin are integrated into solutions through merged-mining. The mainchain uses a PoW consensus mechanism based on SHA256, with blocks produced approximately every 2 minutes and 8 MB in size, compared to Bitcoin's 10-minute blocks and 1 MB size limit.
Note: The mainchain's role is limited to serving as a root of trust, so transaction throughput is not a primary concern. Scalability is achieved through the use of sidechains.
Bonded Proof of Stake
Bonded Proof of Stake (BPoS) is a hybrid consensus mechanism that blends elements of delegated proof of stake and proof of stake. It offers the following benefits:
- Variable bonding time
- Improved profit share model
- Increased mobility between inactive and active sets
- Secure block finality
On the mainchain, BPoS provides finality for PoW-solved blocks, while on sidechains it is responsible for both block production and validation.
Proof of Integrity
Proof of Integrity is a moniker given to the consensus layer backed by the Cyber Republic, Elastos' decentralized autonomous organization (DAO). Councilors elected on an annual basis are automatically granted a slot in the block production rotation and participate in securing not only the mainchain, but also validate the sidechains and act as arbiters for cross-chain transfers.
By combining these three consensus mechanisms, the mainchain provides a secure and efficient foundation for decentralized applications.
Relevant Links
| Resource | Description |
|---|---|
| Explorer | Mainchain block explorer |
| APIs | CLI, JSON-RPC and REST API interfaces |
| Github | Mainchain source code |
| Whitepaper | Original whitepaper |