Trust in Local Protocol

Local Protocol unlocks a new design space where peers across a variety of commercial settings can transact without the need to pay an intermediary. The network uses a crypto-economic game that replaces the trust one would otherwise place in an intermediary. Users are incentivized to complete transactions with a large number of counter-parties to maximize their block reward in their next transaction.

The protocol propagates trust assumptions through local graphs where the strength of the trust assumptions diminish over longer paths from trusted centers. This mechanism creates a scalable network where self-interested actors participate in a complex multi-agent process to create the network's security guarantee.

Next Steps#

In the following sections, we will explore how trust assumptions work, how trust propagates through networks, and how malicious actors can be slashed for failing to provide proofs in networks where proofs are expected.