proof of work

proof of work

English

Alternative forms

• proof-of-work

Etymology

Coined in a 1999 paper.[1]

Noun

proof of work (plural proofs of work)

1. (cryptography, cryptocurrencies) A form of cryptographic zero-knowledge proof.

   Synonym: PoW

   Coordinate term: proof of stake

   • 2008 October 31, Satoshi Nakamoto, “Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System”, in metzdowd.com Cryptography Mailing List‎:

     The network timestamps transactions by hashing them into an ongoing chain of hash-based proof-of-work, forming a record that cannot be changed without redoing the proof-of-work.

   • 2018 March 5, Nouriel Roubini; Preston Byrne, “Bitcoin is based on the blockchain pipe dream”, in The Guardian‎:

     Blockchains that use “proof-of-work”, as many popular cryptocurrencies do, raise yet another problem: they require a huge amount of raw energy to secure them.

Translations

form of zero-knowledge proof

Chinese: Mandarin: 工作證明／工作证明 (gōngzuò zhèngmíng) Finnish: työtodistus (fi) French: please add this translation if you can

See also

• mining

References

1. Markus Jakobsson; Ari Juels (1999), “Proofs of Work and Bread Pudding Protocols”, in Secure Information Networks: Communications and Multimedia Security, Kluwer Academic Publishers, DOI:10.1007/978-0-387-35568-9_18, pages 258–272

Further reading

• proof of work on Wikipedia.Wikipedia