160  Blockchain

consensus algorithms in Chapter 1. In this section, we will provide a set

of questions and a decision tree to assist the businesses for the selection of

appropriate consensus algorithms for their use cases.

List of questions

• Do our use cases have a significant volume of transactions?

There are various use cases that are evaluating blockchain to replace

the incumbent workflows. Some of the use cases are dealing with

thousands and maybe millions of transactions per minute or even sec-

onds. It is important to select the right consensus algorithm if there

is a requirement of a high throughput of transaction validation. For

instance, the PoW algorithm usually takes about 10 minutes to add

one block to the blockchain. Obviously, the technology is continu-

ously evolving, and the real use cases are driving the evolution. There

are other consensuses like PoS and PoA that can speed up the valida-

tion of the transactions.

In essence, businesses need to decide on the appropriate type of

consensus before adopting blockchain for mainstream production use

cases. Businesses also need to evaluate the blockchain products and

what consensus they support as that can be the core factor in selecting

a blockchain product for the use case.

• Does our business use case rely on low latency of the transactions?

Latency of the transactions refers to how many transactions can be

completed per second. This is one of the important criteria that need

to derive the selection of the blockchain consensus as well as block-

chain products. Again, the evolution to provide a high level of TPS

for blockchain consensus and products is continuously improving.

Businesses need to review multiple products and consensuses before

deciding to use them for the POC and going live with the use cases.

• Does our business deal with multiple parties with similar interests

and goals?

Business which deals with multiple parties and trying to establish an

eco-system through blockchain needs to investigate the type of block-

chain, product and consensus algorithm. With these types of require-

ments, PoA and PoS are the most suitable consensus algorithms.

• Does our business model require a significant number of end users

who do not trust each other?

Businesses whose business case is to deal with a significant number

of end users without any trust beneath them should review the PoW

or PoS consensus algorithms.

• Does our business provide authority over transaction workflow and

dispute resolution?

In case an organisation has taken a leadership role in founding a

blockchain eco-system, they also become accountable for making sure