A survey on blockchain consensus mechanism: research overview, current advances and future directions

Purpose As the core technology of blockchain, various consensus mechanisms have emerged to satisfy the demands of different application scenarios. Since determining the security, scalability and other related performance of the blockchain, how to reach consensus efficiently of consensus mechanism is a critical issue in the blockchain. Design/methodology/approach The paper opted for a research overview on the blockchain consensus mechanism, including the consensus mechanisms' consensus progress, classification and comparison, which are complemented by documentary analysis. Findings This survey analyzes solutions for the improvement of consensus mechanisms in blockchain that have been proposed during the last few years and suggests future research directions around consensus mechanisms. First, the authors outline the consensus processes, the advantages and disadvantages of the mainstream consensus mechanisms. Additionally, the consensus mechanisms are subdivided into four types according to their characteristics. Then, the consensus mechanisms are compared and analyzed based on four evaluation criteria. Finally, the authors summarize the representative progress of consensus mechanisms and provide some suggestions on the design of consensus mechanisms to make further advances in this field. Originality/value This paper summarizes the future research development of the consensus mechanisms.