Proof-of-Authority

Proof-of-Authority is an energy-efficient consensus mechanism that relies on trustworthy and selected validators to add new blocks to a private blockchain network, consequently providing it with computing powers. It was coined by the co-founder of Ethereum, Gavin Wood, in 2017 and is relatively new compared to the Proof-of-work and Proof-of-stake mechanisms.

More than the computational powers, it prioritizes the identity of the validator and has a more scalable and efficient consensus algorithm. It consumes less energy and is cost-effective because the number of validators is confined to the selected ones and does not require expensive computing instruments, such as a GPU machine.