Last update: December 21, 2021

Consensus protocols

Besu implements the following consensus protocols:

• Ethash (proof of work)
• Clique (proof of authority)
• IBFT 2.0 (proof of authority)
• Quorum IBFT 1.0 (proof of authority).
• QBFT (proof of authority).

Warning

QBFT is currently an early access feature. It is not recommended for production networks with business critical impact.

The config property in the genesis file specifies the consensus protocol for a chain.

Example

Ethash

{
  "config": {
   ...
    "ethash": {
     ...
   }
  },
  ...
}

Clique

{
  "config": {
   ...
    "clique": {
     ...
   }
  },
  ...
}

IBFT 2.0

{
  "config": {
   ...
    "ibft2": {
     ...
   }
  },
  ...
}

IBFT 1.0

{
  "config": {
   ...
    "ibft": {
     ...
   }
  },
  ...
}

QBFT

{
  "config": {
   ...
    "qbft": {
     ...
   }
  },
  ...
}