Chainlock makes Dash immune to 51% attacks, claims Ryan Taylor

Dash was recently in the news for the implementation of Chainlock, a protocol which helps the Dash network become immune to 51% attacks or a chain re-org.

Ryan Taylor, Dash CEO, was recently featured in an interview where he spoke extensively on Chainlock, New InstantSend and more. Taylor first spoke of how Dash is different from other cryptocurrencies and how it was focused on making “Point-of-sale” for users a more seamless process.

With the implementation of Chainlock on the Dash network, it can now settle payments instantly and can quickly be re-spent without any risk to the receiver.

In the interview, Taylor also spoke about the issues Proof-of-Work-based chains face. According to him, these chains follow the block that has “the most work associated with it,” and always go with the first block they see, even when there are two potential blocks. The validity of a block is confirmed only after the next few blocks are formed in the network.

He then spoke of projects using a checkpoint system, a system that carries its own cons. Taylor said that Dash had solved these issues. Dash has created a network that votes by itself on the blocks created. It does so through developed layers of a network called “Master Nodes.” These master nodes then randomly select 400 nodes to form a “Quorum,” members of which then vote when a block is sighted. The purpose of the voting is to term a block valid for it to be added to the network.

A block is only valid if 60% of the members agree to it. Later, a message is sent via the network and mentions the details of a block at a particular height, while also informing about any other block which is rejected.

When asked about the importance of Chainlock and reducing the chance of a 51% attack, Taylor said,

“The cost of attacking the Dash network for an hour isn’t just rent some hashrate like it is for all other cryptocurrencies, you also have to control 20, 25 percent of the coin supply before you could even attempt it. That makes Dash, probably, the most secure cryptocurrency, even more so than Bitcoin.”