Technology attributes
Other attributes
In LPoS, a validator is called a "baker" or an "endorser". As opposed to DPoS, any user can become a validator if he has enough coins. If he doesn't, then he has the choice to delegate. The idea is to dilute even more the activity and to increase inclusion. The focus is more on governance liquidity rather than the network's scalability. The two roles of delegates are simple:
- Bakers: create blocks
- Endorsers: agree on blocks
The needed quantity of tezs to bake or endorse is a useful parameter. Increase it to discourage Sybil attack or 51% attack, decrease it to coordinate cartels or coalitions dissolutions.
A validator needs 8,000ꜩ (one "roll") to take part in the consensus (soon to be lowered to 2,000ꜩ [11]). However, as in DPoS, the reward probability is still proportional to the invested amount. The baking time has cycles, and the tokens are still frozen as bonds during this process.
A roll represents 8,000ꜩ delegated to a given private key. So, the more rolls someone has, the higher the chance to bake the next block. If 10 rolls are active, and a baker owns of these rolls, he has a 20% chance of being selected. Note that 8,000ꜩ or 15,999ꜩ stakeholders have the same probability of baking.
Baking rights are called priorities and given in turns. For example, if 10 rolls were active, the protocol could randomly select a priority list as follows:
Priority1 = Roll 6 Priority2 = Roll 9 Priority3 = Roll 4 Priority4 = Roll 3 . . . Priority10 = Roll 7
Consequently, the person who owns roll #6 would have priority to propose the new block. If he does not create and broadcast it within a certain period, the next baker who owns roll #9 may take over. Note that a baker may have several rolls selected and therefore receive several priorities.
Each validation establishes a new priority list.
One cycle corresponds to 4096 blocks (≈ 2.8 days).
It takes 7 cycles to accumulate rewards. It then takes another 5 cycles before the delegation service receives them and can transfer those rewards. Finally, the tokens are frozen for several weeks.
At each cycle, a random seed is created. A pseudo-random number generator uses the seed to generate the priority list based on a snapshot of existing rolls 2 cycles ago.
A secret number from all rolls' owners is requested. All secret numbers are gathered and hashed to produce the seed. Since the last owner to reveal his secret already knows the other numbers, a 2-phase process called "Commit & Reveal" is in place.
The generated list of priorities identifies who bakes a block and who endorses it. It is a round-robin process[12] that cycles on the list of priorities until the end of the cycle (4096 blocks).
A baker can't proceed to the next cycle before the complete verification of his roll. Endorsers also control the bakers' transactions. If endorsers find a security breach, they can cancel the baking. In that case, the bakers would lose their coins. Endorsers are, in turn, rewarded for each verification with tezs (more details in the Economics and rewards chapter).
