How Massa is solving blockchain trilemma with novel approach - part 1 Scalability
Massa is a Layer-1 Proof-of-Stake blockchain in the making. It promises to solve blockchain trilemma, that has been stuggering blockchain adoption en-masse since the inception of Bitcoin.
The blockchain trilemma poses a question to developers: how we can increase scalability without weakening decentralization or security? It this article I'll dig into scalability issue.
Massa's unparalled (pun intended) architecture, called the Blockclique, scales transaction throughput up to 10,000 transactions per second while having one of the highest Nakamoto decentralization coefficient and all the security benefits.
Usually blockchain consists of the blocks, which in turn consist of transactions. When enough transactions are present the node computes them and then gathers in a block that is broadcasted to all other nodes. Blocks are produced sequentially and transactions are computed sequentially as well.
Blockclique architecture combines transaction sharding and a multithreaded block graph structure. It solves the scalability issue by parallelizing the data structure and adapting the consensus rule.
Whenever a transaction reaches the network, it gets assigned to a specific shard. Each shard is comprised of its own data, making it distinctive and independent when compared to other shards. The assignment is determined by the first few bits of the sending address of the transaction. This is called transaction sharding.
In the Blockclique architecture, blocks can be created in a number of threads. A block created in a specific thread references a parent block in each of the threads. The resulting data structure is a multithreaded directed acyclic graph of blocks (multithreaded DAG). Threads each maintain their own DAG, and the data structure provides an efficient way to store and organize blocks in the network. The DAG also helps to quickly identify incorrectly formed or invalid blocks, allowing the network to reject them.
From standpoint of a blockchain node it is not necessary to have all the latest blocks to work on a new one due to sharding. Hence it is easier to set up a node and cheaper to mantain it which even further extends the decentralisation, which is a whole topic on itself.
Simply put Massa nodes can create shards in parallel threads, whose enclosed transactions are compatible with every other shards because of the directed acyclic graph architecture. You can think of a threads as a set of a standalone blockchains that later on combain data into one to be validated.
All technical details aside Massa unique solutions allows for lower transactions, faster execution and easier scaling making it a pefect candidate to make the final step towards mass consumer adoption in our day-to-day life.