The Role of a Validator in Consensus — Audit.One joins Akash Network Validator Network

The validator is a very important factor in the blockchain ecosystem especially within the proof of stake setup. Recently I came across a partnership that ticked all the boxes. On one side was Persistence and on the other was Akash network. One of Persistence’s next-gen DeFi products, AUDIT.One was onboarding Akash network as a validator but why is this partnership important? Is it worth the loss of sleep? We’d go through the details of this partnership and what it holds for the DeFi space but first let’s see what job a validator does.

Validator

You can’t fully describe validators without talking about a consensus process. In our everyday lives, we all have to deal with one common factor, Trust. Due to a lot of underlying factors, we all lack a bit of trust for one another unless for some reasons, those fears are put to rest. The continuous battle within ourselves to trust does not remain there in our minds; it cuts across a lot of human endeavours. The blockchain ecosystem is not left out. One of the common mantras within the blockchain space is “Don’t trust, Verify! This is the backbone of blockchain technology where your first rule is to be trustless and as a result it aims to make that the basis of its operations. Blockchain technology promises to be trustless and so makes use of the wider community to help verify if a transaction is fake or genuine. It’s easy to just say this but how does the blockchain do this? Is there a system embedded in it to help circumvent the issues surrounding trust? Of course, Yes! There is. Many projects/networks use a series of diverse means to do this and they are all collectively known as consensus protocols.

Consensus protocols

To fully understand this, you need to understand how the blockchain works. Within a blockchain is a series of nodes that are spread across to help verify transactions on the network. This is the beauty of not having a central authority and embodies the concept of decentralization where everyone has a say in proceedings without a single node having control over what should happen. With this everyone can vote to add information for the blockchain and also everyone will decide whether that piece of data or information (block) is added to the chain or eliminated entirely. The rules guiding this process is referred to as a consensus process. With a consensus protocol, a network is the deemed safe and secure. Their use to the network cannot be overemphasized. They can help prevent a single central entity from taking control because all the participating nodes have to agree on the state of affairs within the blockchain. Therefore, whenever any piece of data is added, it is regarded as the truth and the process continues as smart contracts are executed. Consensus protocols also prevent what is called double spending. This can only happen when one entity can alter the data on the blockchain and record a spent token as unspent so that he or she can spend it again. This can’t happen within the consensus network. Validators are very important to the process and you can’t describe a consensus protocol or process very well without describing the roles validators play. A validator is a node that takes part in the consensus process as stated earlier. This shows how vital they are to the process. A block cannot be verified without undergoing this consensus process. The validators decide whether a block will be added to the growing chain or discarded and mind you, this is largely tied to their voting power.

Persistence and Akash Network

So Persistence joined the Akash network as a validator through its next-gen financial product, AUDIT.One. AUDIT.One will be running a validator node on the Akash network. Akash is making a name for itself and has carved out a niche for itself in the decentralized cloud computing sector and AUDIT.One is proud to be among this setup. With Akash network, the vision is a space with open, sovereign and permissionless cloud computing where builders of the Internet can improve user experience with a higher degree of freedom. With this it is easy to see why AUDIT.One is joining the Akash network validator system. Mind you, AUDIT.One represents one of the biggest global validators in the blockchain industry and this is not just by name.

With over 150 million in assets under delegation across a wide range of top PoS networks, it is no news that AUDIT.One has indeed carved out a niche for itself. Interoperability is the new talk these days and the Cosmos ecosystem is driving the movement generally. AUDIT.One is a major contributor to this system and will be using this medium to show support for Akash and help push their joint effort to strengthen the cosmos ecosystem. Pushing the blockchain industry has always been a goal and the AUDIT.One team are looking for proper platforms that have a long-term vision aligning with theirs to help push the narrative for blockchain growth and adoption.

The decentralized cloud space is one very vital and upcoming niche with a very bright future and Akash is at the forefront as a pioneer. This is in line with AUDIT.One’s vision, also, of a freer, more open world. With Akash you have one of the most robust emerging communities in the proof-of-stake ecosystem with their community showing great progress and reaching new heights both as developers and token holders. This is a move that ticks all the boxes as AUDIT.One would be supporting the Akash network while granting the AKT holders a secure and very reliable staking service.

About Akash Network

With Akash Network, you’re looking at the world’s first decentralized peer-to-peer cloud computing marketplace. Compared to other cloud service providers, Akash Network shows why it is the leading provider with a better, faster and cheaper setup (up to 90% lower). By being on the Akash Supercloud, you can become a cloud provider by offering your unused compute cycles in a safe and frictionless marketplace as long as you have a computer device.

Website: https://akash.network

Twitter: https://twitter.com/akashnet_

About Persistence

Persistence is a protocol powering DeFi by providing next-gen financial products. They have products like AssetMantle, pSTAKE, AuditOne and pLEND coming soon.

Persistence Website: https://persistence.one

Persistence Twitter: https://twitter.com/persistenceone

About AUDIT.One

AUDIT.one is one of the various next-gen DeFi products on Persistence with its use case being to provide top-tier validation services for leading PoS networks. Their decentralized infrastructure takes priority for both security and efficiency through sentry nodes distributed across various cloud providers. Currently, AUDIT.one supports more than ten (10) networks, with over $150 million in assets under delegation.

Website: https://audit.one

Twitter: https://twitter.com/AuditOne_