How Blockchain solves the Byzantine Generals Problem?
The Byzantine Generals Problem is one of the primary game theories used in the development of a blockchain. It serves as the foundation for Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) and algorithms built around it. Although Satoshi Nakamoto did not use BFT in his implementation of Bitcoin, the concept of the Proof-of-Work (PoW) consensus mechanism is based on it. Let’s examine what it is and how blockchain manages to solve this problem.
What is the Byzantine Generals Problem? The Byzantine Generals Problem was formulated in 1982 by Marshall Pease, Robert Shostak, and Leslie Lamport. It is a game theory problem that describes how difficult it is for decentralized parties to come to a consensus when there is no trusted central party. In this problem, the Byzantine army is divided into numerous battalions, each of which is commanded by a different general. The generals need to reach an agreement (consensus) on whether to carry out the attack or not.