class of consensus mechanism used in blockchains
computational power which secure creation of new valid blocks
unlike proof of stake
which relies on vested staking to assign validation rights
pow relies on computational power to solve complex mathematical problems
miners compete to solve these problems
with the first one to solve it earning the right to validate transactions and create a new block
method aims to secure the network through computational difficulty and resource expenditure
pros
security
- relies on the nakamoto consensus with an honest majority assumption of 51%
- making it difficult and costly to attack the network
decentralization
- enables anyone with computational resources to participate
- without the need for holding a significant amount of tokens
fairness
- allows the network to start from 0 token supply
- ensuring identical rules for all participants throughout the network's lifetime
accessibility
- enables minting tokens through computational effort
- acting as a transmuter to bypass the existing financial system for onboarding
cons
energy efficiency
- significantly increases energy consumption
- due to the need for extensive computational power
scalability
- handles lower transaction volumes less efficiently
- making it less suitable for large-scale blockchain networks
proof of work is implemented in token of leading blockchain
and others