# Consensus protocol #### Consensus protocol Lither chain implements the QBFT Proof of authority (PoA) consensus protocol. PoA consensus works when participants know each other and there is a level of trust between them. For example, in a permissioned consortium network. PoA consensus protocols have faster block times and a much greater transaction throughput. PoA consensus method gives a small and designated number of blockchain actors the power to validate transactions or interactions with the network and to update its more or less distributed registry. According to the chosen scheme, one or more validating machines are responsible for generating each new block of transactions that will be included in the Blockchain. The new block can be accepted directly without verification, or by unanimous vote of the block generators, or simply by a majority, depending on the configuration chosen for the Blockchain. Unlike the proof-of-work mechanism, commonly referred to as “mining”, there is no technical competition between validators here. This consensus mechanism requires almost no computing power, and therefore almost no electricity for its operation. Since the PoA requires only a limited number of actors, the network can afford to update the blockchain more frequently by reducing the time between each block (blocktime) and process more transactions (blocksize) for processing fees close to zero (Transaction fees). --- # Agent Instructions: Querying This Documentation If you need additional information that is not directly available in this page, you can query the documentation dynamically by asking a question. Perform an HTTP GET request on the current page URL with the `ask` query parameter: ``` GET https://lither.gitbook.io/lither-whitepaper/blockchain-internals/consensus-protocol.md?ask= ``` The question should be specific, self-contained, and written in natural language. The response will contain a direct answer to the question and relevant excerpts and sources from the documentation. Use this mechanism when the answer is not explicitly present in the current page, you need clarification or additional context, or you want to retrieve related documentation sections.