Liveness Safety Trade-off

Consensus

The trade-off is central to consensus protocol design. Proof-of-Work prioritizes liveness, allowing the network to continue operating even if a portion of miners go offline, but at the cost of probabilistic finality. Proof-of-Stake protocols often prioritize safety by requiring a supermajority of validators to confirm blocks, potentially halting the chain (sacrificing liveness) if a significant number of validators fail to reach consensus.