blockchain//consensus//Clique

Clique is a proof-of-authority consensus in which a fixed set of authorized validators take deterministic turns signing blocks. The turn order is determined by the block number and the list of signers, and its safety rests on the quorum rule: \(\lfloor N/2\rfloor+1\) validators must agree.

Clique is a proof-of-authority consensus in which a fixed set of authorized validators take deterministic turns signing blocks. The turn order is determined by the block number and the list of signers, and its safety rests on the quorum rule: ⌊N/2⌋+1\lfloor N/2\rfloor+1⌊N/2⌋+1 validators must agree.

The signer whose turn it is (in-turn) has priority, and out-of-turn signers add a random delay to avoid conflicts.

Adding or removing validators requires an on-chain vote through clique_propose, never an edit of genesis.json, and a majority is needed.

A single malicious validator can censor transactions during its turn, but the other validators will include them next.