The Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) introduces federated Byzantine agreement, a consensus mechanism that achieves decentralized control, low latency, flexible trust, and asymptotic security simultaneously. SCP enables a worldwide financial network where participants reach agreement without relying on centralized institutions.
This article explains the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), a federated Byzantine agreement model designed to solve consensus in decentralized financial networks. SCP uniquely combines four properties: decentralized control, low latency, flexible trust, and asymptotic security. The protocol uses quorum slices, where each node chooses which other participants it trusts, enabling open membership without gatekeepers. Through federated voting with vote, accept, and confirm stages, nodes reach agreement while tolerating Byzantine failures. The ballot-based approach allows the system to neutralize stuck options and ensure progress, making it suitable for building financial infrastructure that serves underserved populations globally.
