Lisk is set to introduce a new feature called “forging rewards” in early December, in order to create a more competitive ecosystem for its stakeholders. The development team behind Lisk believes community forging will allow it to become a more efficient, secure and reliable network.

Lisk is a unique alternative to Ethereum, in that it is based on a consensus algorithm called the Delegated Proof of Stake (DPoS). In DPoS, blocks are mined or generated by stakeholders, or investors that hold the highest amount of LISK.

Within the network, these majority stakeholders can vote for or elect 101 active delegates, who are responsible for protecting and securing the network.

The white paper of Lisk reads:

“The Lisk network is secured and/or protected by 101 active delegates. Each delegate is elected by the stakeholders of LISK. Once voted into the list of active delegates they are given the authority to generate blocks. Every Lisk stakeholder can be a part of the electoral process, by placing votes for delegates in their favour, or by becoming a candidate themselves.”

What are Forging Rewards?

Forging rewards are additional fees that are granted to active delegates on top of the regular transaction fees. In the context of Bitcoin, it is like miners receiving extra miner’s fee on top of the transaction fee included in each transaction.

As time passes, the amount of forging rewards will decrease substantially. From block 60,480 to 3,060,480, active delegates will receive five LISK per block. However, it will steadily decrease to one LISK per block over the next few months.

The development team behind Lisk believes that the inclusion of additional fees will pressure active delegates to become more competitive. Stakeholders will purchase more LISK to receive more voting power, which ultimately increases the possibility of securing the forging rewards.

The Lisk team explains:

“Without fierce competition, individual delegates will never strive to be faster, more secure and always-on. Forging rewards creates this necessary competition. In much the same way the arms race at Bitcoin has pushed miners to compete ever more, forging rewards will create a battle amongst the best performing delegates.”

Upon the release of forging rewards, Lisk is set to release Lisk v0.5.0, which is currently live on testnet for improved stabilisation and additional testing. Once Lisk 0.5.0 is released, the team will work towards v.0.6.0, which is set to be completed by the end of November.