We decided to take a step back this week from the hardcore tech stuff and go over some common blockchain concepts, specifically Proof of Stake and Smart Contracts.

These two things are a core part of our system, with Proof of Stake providing our consensus algorithm and Smart Contracts providing us computational power. While these things are important, we normally do not go over them in detail because these are not our new contributions to the field. However, both features are very important for understanding how our system works.

Proof of Stake is a new consensus algorithm that works by choosing the next block based on the stake of each node in the system. The stake can be one of many different combinations; traditionally the stake has involved the amount of wealth (number of coins) or the age of that wealth.

While there are many benefits of Proof of Stake, the primary one we are concerned with is cost. Since there is no large Proof of Work that needs to be solved, much less electricity is used which allows us to save significantly on power consumption. There are many different varieties of proof of stake, including aged-based selection like peer coin, the use of Masternodes like Dash, and Ethereum’s casper.

We wont go into the details of these in this blog post as that they each could have a full post on their own, but we are going with Ethereum’s casper model right now. We will briefly go into the two broad types of Proof of stake, In chain-based Proof of Stake and BFT-style Proof of Stake,

In chain-based Proof of Stake, the right to create next block is randomly determined based on Stake and this block must point to a previous block. In BFT-style proof of stake blocks are proposed by randomly selected nodes, and in turn all the nodes then vote on weather the block is added. Ethereum’s Casper uses a hybrid model

Then there are Smart Contracts which are, in simple terms, immutable code on the blockchain. By adding code into the blockchain, you allow the nodes, through the code or smart contracts, to manipulate the states of the chain. This allows them to create and manage new data objects on chain which can be fairly powerful.

And since the code is on the network, like previously mentioned, it becomes immutable. This allows users to create ‘smart contracts’ between themselves to create ‘agreements’ and functions that are guarantee each user performs the action they say they are going to perform. People have already used them to create systems ranging from voting and governance to Gambling and prediction markets. Smart contracts are overall a fairly simple but powerful subject.

If you have any questions on these topics please feel free to reach out to us on our Telegram channel or stay tuned for more in depth blogs.

About SimplyVital Health:

SimplyVital Health is making decentralized technology accessible to the healthcare industry by creating Health Nexus, a healthcare-grade blockchain and paired data storage. Their principal application, ConnectingCare, augments existing hospital care systems to extract data and create care pathway flexibility, prospectively track financials, maintain immutable records, and accurately monitor analytics.

Website: https://token.simplyvitalhealth.com/