what is the obelisk consensus algorithm 
obelisk is a blockchain consensus algorithm used by the skycoin ecosystem designed to eliminate the shortcomings of the proof of work pow and proof of stake pos algorithms according to its creators obelisk also reduces the need for mining significantly improves transaction speed and delivers enhanced security understanding the obelisk consensus algorithmblockchains operate globally as self regulated decentralized platforms without any single authority therefore a real time reliable and secure network mechanism is required to ensure the authenticity of the transactions occurring on the network and reach a consensus about the ledger s status this task is performed by the consensus algorithm while the pow and pos systems are the most commonly used consensus algorithms they both have drawbacks for example pow is very energy intensive and pos can promote cryptocurrency hoarding instead of spending obelisk attempts to circumvent the problems of pow and pos by distributing influence over the network according to a concept called a web of trust this concept uses various network nodes and makes consensus decisions depending on the influence score each node creates in obelisk all nodes have a list of nodes that they are subscribed to this creates node density the nodes with the most density have more influence on the network 1in terms of roles and activities performed there are two types of nodes that participate in obelisk block generating nodes and consensus nodes nodes can take either role because they are interchangeable block generating nodes collect new transactions authenticate them package the verified transactions in a new block and broadcast the block to the network 2consensus nodes collect the blocks generated by block generating nodes and put them in a separate container apart from the blockchain it then identifies the block made by the largest number of block generators this block is called the local winner and qualifies to be added to the blockchain each consensus node maintains necessary statistics on local winners as reported by other nodes 