what is hashgraph consensus 
hashgraph consensus is an alternative to or the next generation of the technology behind blockchain consensus mechanisms instead of using the computational power of large networks to verify transactions transactions are recorded and confirmed via a protocol that uses node communication a hashgraph is a decentralized ledger in much the same way a blockchain is it stores information secures it with cryptography limits access and uses the stored data as verification however a hashgraph network reaches consensus in a much different way than a blockchain does hashgraph consensus is reached using concepts called gossip gossip about gossip and virtual voting designers of the system report that it solves the problems inherent to consensus building algorithms such as proof of work pow in terms of better speed and higher efficiency learn more about hashgraph consensus and how it is different and more efficient than blockchain consensus mechanisms hashgraph consensus gossip gossip about gossip and virtual voting is the mechanism the hedera distributed ledger uses to validate and confirm transactions 1understanding hashgraph consensushashgraph is an alternative to blockchain similar to a blockchain it stores data and encrypts it a hash is generated for transaction information and new transactions or data are added and built upon however a blockchain is a ledger that consists of blocks of data each block is linked to the previous block using its data verified by a network of validators to create the next block this process creates one chain a hashgraph isn t one chain all information is kept in an encrypted ledger and every user participates in the validation process not just the validators for example alice creates a transaction with bob and all of the information she knows is given to him bob then makes a transaction with kris all of the information bob has is communicated to kris kris transacts with eli and everything she knows is transferred this continues throughout the network with the chain essentially gossiping about the events taking place every node knows what all other nodes know so there is no need for computational validation as the gossip spreads from user to user the network uses algorithms and automation to ensure the state of the hashgraph ledger is updated and the same information about data is called gossip the data structure contained in a transaction are the two hashes are the last events from two syncing nodes that compare their information nodes are continuously creating events and syncing hashgraph the ledger is more efficient than blockchain because no energy is wasted on blocks that are not accepted all information is retained in a hashgraph information about transaction data is called gossip about gossip information is synchronized in the hashgraph network using an event called a gossip sync a gossip sync is a collaborative history of gossip events throughout the hashgraph in this way data cannot be altered or tampered with and there is consensus virtual voting occurs when the nodes compare events and reach a consensus via a voting algorithm here s how it works a transaction is assigned a timestamp as a node receives it as it passes to the other nodes in the network it is assigned a timestamp that is a median of all of the timestamps for that transaction received by the nodes in the network the median acts as the result of the vote this creates a more fair transaction system than a blockchain because the network decides not one node as with most distributed ledgers and blockchain there is always a chance that a participant in the network is not honest there might be delays in communication or network latency that causes nodes not to communicate properly consensus mechanisms are designed to deal with these faults by setting fault tolerance criteria developers need to consider and account for bad actors bad connections network latency and other network issues hashgraph consensus can tolerate one third of the network acting maliciously it is reportedly asynchronous byzantine fault tolerant the highest security level which means that honest nodes on a network continue operating even if there are bad actors 2