Proof-of-Elapsed-Time (PoET) is a blockchain consensus protocol that ensures fair and equal distribution of digital assets among participants without requiring the energy-intensive proof-of-work (PoW) algorithm. It was introduced by Intel Corporation as part of their Hyperledger Sawtooth framework.
In PoET, participants in the network are required to solve a cryptographic puzzle or computation to prove that they have waited for a randomly selected period of time before proposing a new block. The first participant to solve the puzzle becomes the leader and can propose a block to the network. The PoET algorithm is designed to ensure that the time required to solve the puzzle is randomly distributed among participants, creating a fair and equitable distribution of digital assets.
PoET is considered to be a more energy-efficient consensus protocol compared to PoW since it doesn’t require participants to perform complex mathematical computations. It also eliminates the advantages of specialized mining hardware and pools, making it more decentralized. However, it still requires participants to wait for a random period to solve the puzzle, which may cause slow transaction processing times in some cases.
