Search Results

What is consensus in blockchain Consensus is the process by which all participants in a blockchain network agree on the current state of the shared ledger. Without consensus, there would be no way to determine which transactions are valid, which blocks are fin...

What is Proof of Stake (PoS) Proof of Stake (PoS) is a consensus mechanism in which participants lock up (stake) their tokens as collateral to earn the right to validate transactions and produce new blocks. Instead of competing to solve computational puzzles (...

What is Proof of Work (PoW) Proof of Work (PoW) is a consensus mechanism in which participants called miners compete to solve computationally difficult mathematical puzzles. The first miner to find a valid solution earns the right to add the next block of tran...

What is Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) is a consensus mechanism in which token holders do not validate blocks themselves but instead vote for a limited set of delegates who perform block production and validation on the network...

What is Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) Proof of Staked Authority (PoSA) is a consensus mechanism that combines elements of Proof of Stake (PoS) and Proof of Authority (PoA). In a PoSA system, a limited set of validators is pre-approved or permissioned (the A...

What is slashing Slashing is a penalty mechanism in Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain networks that punishes validators for behavior that threatens network security or integrity. When a validator is slashed, a portion of their staked tokens is destroyed (burned)...

What are mainnet, testnet, and beta Every blockchain network and crypto project goes through stages of development before (and after) full public launch. The three most common labels for these stages are testnet, beta, and mainnet. Understanding what each stag...

What do active, in development, and migration mean The Project status field in a DecAIHub project card describes the current lifecycle stage of the project being reviewed. The three most informative values — active, in development, and migration/merger — tell ...

What is a token standard A token standard is a set of technical rules that defines how a token behaves on a specific blockchain. It specifies the programming interface -- which functions the token's smart contract must implement, what events it must emit, and ...

What is a token model A token model describes the role that a token plays within a project's ecosystem. While a token standard defines the technical format (how a token is transferred, tracked, and approved), the token model answers a fundamentally different q...

What is ERC-20 ERC-20 is the most widely adopted token standard on the Ethereum blockchain. It defines a common interface -- a set of functions and events -- that a smart contract must implement to create a fungible token. "Fungible" means that every unit of t...

What is BEP-20 BEP-20 is the token standard used on BNB Smart Chain (BSC) — the EVM-compatible blockchain operated by the BNB Chain ecosystem. BEP-20 defines a common set of rules that every fungible token on BSC must follow: how tokens are transferred, how ba...

What is SPL SPL stands for Solana Program Library — a collection of on-chain programs (smart contracts) maintained for the Solana blockchain, which includes the SPL Token program that defines the standard for creating and managing fungible and non-fungible tok...

What is a native token A native token is the built-in currency of a blockchain network -- the token that exists at the protocol level, not as a smart contract deployed on top of it. Examples include ETH on Ethereum, SOL on Solana, BNB on BNB Smart Chain, TAO o...

What is a utility token A utility token is a crypto token whose primary purpose is to provide access to a product, service, or function within a specific project or protocol. Unlike tokens that exist purely for speculation or as stores of value, a utility toke...

What is a governance token A governance token is a crypto token that gives its holder the right to vote on decisions affecting a protocol or decentralized organization. These decisions can range from treasury spending and fee parameter changes to protocol upgr...

What is a fee mechanism A fee mechanism is a token model in which the native token is used to pay fees generated by protocol operations. These fees can be burned (permanently removed from circulation), redistributed to stakers or liquidity providers, directed ...

What is staking Staking is a token model in which holders lock their tokens in a protocol to participate in network security, protocol operations, or economic alignment. In return for locking tokens, stakers typically receive rewards — from fee redistribution,...