Proof of Authority

Proof of authority is a category of blockchain consensus mechanism in which the right to validate transactions and produce blocks rests on the identity and reputation of a limited set of approved validators, rather than on computational work as in proof of work or staked tokens as in proof of stake. The term was coined by Ethereum and Parity Technologies co-founder Gavin Wood. Validators are granted their role by a centralized authority, a council, or a decentralized organization, and are expected to behave honestly because misconduct damages their public reputation and can cost them their validator status. Because it is permissioned and relies on a comparatively small number of trusted validators rather than a fully trustless open network, proof of authority can process transactions faster and with less computational overhead than proof of work or proof of stake; blockchain platforms reported to use it include VeChain, Bitgert, Palm Network and Xodex. This description is adapted from Wikipedia contributors under CC BY-SA 4.0; changes were made. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/