Hive Blockchain witnesses
Hello everyone, today another kind of informative post about Hive. It's been a while since I have written such an article, but I think it's always good to stay informed. Especially for newer people, Hive isn't always that easy to understand. Before I dive into the topic of witnesses, I first want to make a sidenote. I didn't really know in which community I had to post such an article, so decided to go for OCD as I see it as a general topic helping out everyone. Feel free to tell me in the comments where would be the best place to post such an article, I'll be glad to take your feedback for the future!
A word about Hive
Before explaining what witnesses are, I will try to explain a bit more about Hive. What is Hive exactly and how does it work? I am definitely not a tech-savvy person, so don't worry, I will try to write in human language and not in developer language as I guess most people prefer it and I am not able to write in developer language either. To understand what Hive exactly is, it's always a good idea to read the whitepaper. I share the link as I am quite sure not everyone has already read it, although some are maybe here for several months or years.
When we look at the whitepaper, Hive is explained as follow:
Hive is an innovative and forward-looking decentralized blockchain and ecosystem built on the
Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) protocol. Since its inception, Hive has steadily grown as an ecosystem. Myriad dapps, APIs and front-ends contribute to a general and straightforward accessibility of
data, transactions and records, so that this existing diversity and utility ensure that the ecosystem
is welcoming to content creators, consumers, investors and builders. Hive is developed to store vast
amounts of content and to make it available for time-based monetization. The performance of the
blockchain is designed to scale with widespread adoption of the currency and platforms in mind. By
combining the lightning fast processing times and fee-less transactions, Hive is positioned to become
one of the leading blockchain technologies used by people around the world.
Source
There are definitely some interesting elements in this explanation, which could all be analyzed into detail. Will maybe cover it in another post in the future. But for now, I am trying to come to the concept of witnesses, so I just highlighted Delegated Proof of Stake or DPoS in short. As this is important to understand.
Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS)
DPoS is a concept which maybe isn't clear if you're new to blockchain technology, to Hive or crypto in general. Let's have a look at what the Hive whitepaper tells us about DPoS:
Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS) is the consensus algorithm behind Hive. In a DPoS algorithm, the selection of block producers (called ’witnesses’ on Hive) and all other consensus-based functions are decided based on the weight of staked funds supporting them. Stakeholders hold the highest prominence in DPoS. DPoS consensus is considered to be the most inclusive and the least centralized of all the blockchain protocols.
Source
As you can read, the selection of block producers are decided based on the weight of staked funds supporting them. So, we already know now that witnesses are block producers for the Hive blockchain. Who's creating a block is dependant on which witness has the most votes, in terms of staked funds thus: Hive Power, on them. So far we know:
a witness is a block producer and the more votes, measured in Hive Power, he has: the bigger the chanche he'll produce a block.
Protocol changes
Protocol changes, what are those? Well, when a hardfork is happening, it's a protocol change, atleast that's how I understand it. A hardfork is possible if 17 out of 20 of the consensus witnesses accept it. Let's analyze this sentence as there are quite some specific words in it.
A hardfork
is a radical change to a network's protocol that makes previously invalid blocks and transactions valid, or vice-versa.
Source
About consensus witnesses
Blocks are produced at 3 second intervals and are signed by “Witnesses” selected based on the total weight of the Hive Power supporting them through individual approvals. There are 20 consensus witnesses that are granted block signing operations on a rotating schedule. Every account may select up to 30 witnesses for approval, during which process it adds to the support each witness receives. The witnesses are ranked in priority based on the total amount of staked support they presently receive. While the 20 consensus witnesses have an equal opportunity to sign blocks, witnesses ranked 21 and further are
treated as backup witnesses. The number of signing opportunities they receive is directly proportional to the staked support behind them.
Source
So, to resume: a hardfork changes the direction a blockchain is going, on hive it's something most people will know as Hive saw the light because of a hardfork of Steem. This topic on its own is a whole story which I won't go deeper into it. But if I'm correct, some people (I think of @leofinance) are creating a movie about that topic.
The consensus witnesses are the 20 highest ranked witnesses in terms of support by community members measured in HP supporting them. These 20 witnesses have an equal opportunity to sign a block. The ones ranked 21st and so on are having a chanche to sign a block every now and then based on the hp supporting them.
Price feeds
Another aspects in which witnesses are involved is the price feed. Hive witnesses are respondable for dependable and consistent price feeds.
Summary
In my opinion the most important thing witnesses are doing is signing blocks. This is the heart of the blockchain. So it is very important to support witnesses which want to improve the Hive blockchain in a good direction and don't harm it for whatever reason. It may seem as something trivial, but it's actually a very important decision!
How to vote for a witness
Everyone on Hive can vote for up to 30 witnesses. You can check out an overview of the witnesses here. To vote for a witness, you simply click on the V symbol next to the witness.
For example:
As you can see on above picture, I voted for the @wrestorgonline witness. While they are creating a game on Hive, I think they could have an important influence in where Hive could go. While they are attracting wrestling fans to their game, they could be initiated to Hive as a blockchain as well. Ofcourse their focus is to get their game up and running, and afterwards improve it, while the focus of a witness could be more diverse by developing, running api nodes, onboarding several new people, etc.
I think it's a good sign when a witness is reflecting on his vision for Hive. That's why I've chose to vote for the following witnesses:
@arcange
@yabapmatt
@steempeak
@ocd-witness
@deathwing
@leofinance
@wrestorgonline
Ofcourse this is just a personal choise and everyone has to do his/her own research as I tried to explain, it's a really important decision everyone has to make!
Feel free to ask any questions concerning witnesses, if I can't answer them, I'll try to ask more experienced people :)
Disclaimer: Positive: This article is written by someone who isn't that tech-savvy, which makes it maybe a bit more clear for non-developers or new people.
Disclaimer: Negative: This article is written by someone who isn't that tech-savvy, so there could be misinterpretations of me inside this article. Feel free to elaborate if you find any in the comments!